In the last five years many Americans have bought new homes and in fact this has been one of the biggest housing booms in U.S. history. More people have bought new homes then in any other time in our nation. What many people may not realize is that by today's standards homes are much more energy-efficient and that makes them perfect candidates for solar power.

New homes with new materials hold in the heat better and in the cooler air too during the summer. This means there's less draw on energy from the power grid and it also means that if you can put solar panels on top of the roof and they will be required to generate less electricity to do the same amount of work.

Ten years ago it cost up to $80,000 to install solar panels, but with new materials now the prices have come way down and now the average home can put in solar panels for about $40,000. Also the batteries, which collect the energy that the solar panels produce also have improved and last twice as long.

So what we have here is solar panels that are twice as efficient, batteries which last twice as long and the solar systems only cost half of what they did a decade ago. From a return on investment standpoint it now makes sense to solar power your home. If you own a new energy-efficient home then your house is ripe for solar power. Won't you consider this in 2006?