I'm obsessed and I don't know what to do about it. Is there a support group out there for people who have just hooked up a rooftop grid tie solar panel system and can't help going outside and watching their electric meters spin backward?

It has been three weeks now since our 3 kilowatt grid tie solar system was installed and it was connected to the power grid last week.

The way it works is that when the sun is shining, and if our home is using less than the amount it is producing, it spins our meter backward.

It is estimated to produce about $50 worth of power per month which for our highly efficient home with solar water heating is about half our bill. I am considering doubling the size of the system to produce all of the power we use next year if the government and city rebates are still in place.

In addition to the fun of watching the power meter spin backwards there is a display on the solar inverter that shows how many pounds of CO2 we have saved over burning fossil fuel produced power.

I love watching the meter go backward partly because of the impact we are not having on the environment but mostly because I imagine pennies, nickels an dimes dropping into a piggy bank every time a digit turns over on the "power sold" meter next to our regular meter.

If current electricity prices of 9.5 cents per kilowatt hold I will get my money back in full in 8 years since rebates paid for most of the system.

The power company in turn gets a small, reliable generating plant that will be around for at least 25 years located not on high value real estate, but on my roof.

I think the novelty will eventually wear off but for now I just love to see those digits going backward.