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Lambertville couple goes green

Charlene and Jeffrey Weinstein have installed solar panels in their Music Mountain house.

By Linda Seida, Staff Writer
   LAMBERTVILLE — Like a lawyer building a case or a scientist presenting evidence, Charlene Weinstein tried to persuade her attorney husband to become interested in solar energy.
   She wanted to install solar panels at their Music Mountain home. For a long time, Jeffrey Weinstein did not.
   ”Jeff didn’t think it was something that made sense, the cost of it,” Mrs. Weinstein said.
   She has had an enduring interest in the environment.
   ”For many years, even back into when I was in high school, even in the ‘70s, I thought it was a cool idea all that time,” she said.
   Mrs. Weinstein attended a workshop on solar power presented by the county where rebates were explained. She shared all the good points and cost-savings information with her husband.
   ”He was not enthusiastic,” she said. “I let it go.”
   Every couple’s relationship has its own shorthand. When Mrs. Weinstein presented her case again about a year later, she put it in the language of their relationship, phrasing it in a way she hoped would make her husband understand how much solar power meant to her.
   Mr. Weinstein had a “life’s dream” of owning a BMW convertible, according to Mrs. Weinstein. She put her desire into the language of their relationship, telling him solar power for their house was her BMW, her life’s dream.
   ”He finally got it,” she said with a happy laugh.
   Last week, Jersey Solar of Califon completed the installation. The Weinsteins now have 30 solar panels, each about 6-foot by 31 inches, covering three-quarters of the roof on their Jefferson Road house.
   The price tag came to almost $50,000. After state rebates were applied, the Weinsteins’ share was less than half, $21,930.
   Even better, they could actually make some money toward their electric bill.
   ”When we make more than we need, it goes back to the grid,” Mrs. Weinstein said.
   At those times, the wheel on the house’s electric meter will run backward.
   ”It’s like a credit,” she said.
   The couple’s son, Sam, 7, “thinks it’s pretty cool,” Mrs. Weinstein said.
   Their daughter, Brigett, 10, normally isn’t as moved by the science behind it as her mother is. But last week, Mrs. Weinstein had the opportunity to point out to Brigett the system still was doing its job on an overcast day.
   ”She asked a lot of questions. It’s pretty amazing how sensitive they are,” Mrs. Weinstein said of the panels.
   ”It’s so exciting to me,” she said. “I feel sort of like a kid. When you’re an adult, not too many things are this exciting. I feel like I’m doing something good. Hopefully, it is good for our community and our world. We’re doing our part.”