At home, panel discussions

That changed last month, when Konicki had rooftop panels installed on his house in Webster and signed an 18-year contract with SunRun, the California company that owns and maintains the equipment, to be his main electricity vendor. He figures he will save 8 cents per kilowatt hour in future energy costs — taking 50 percent or more off his monthly bill, which has averaged about $66 — while helping save the planet.

Konicki belongs to a growing number of Massachusetts residents who are going solar at a time when climate change, eco-disasters, and rising energy costs are generating sobering headlines. The shift to solar energy is being driven by several factors, some economic, some technological, and some environmental.

“The oil spill has raised everyone’s consciousness about how fragile the environment is,’’ said Konicki, 57, who served as a missionary in Haiti (where even before the January earthquake electricity could be a scarce commodity). Americans’ dependence on fossil fuel, he added, “is bad for everyone, from the individual consumer to the planet we live on.’’

With the cost of residential solar-energy systems falling, state and federal tax incentives are making these systems even more financially feasible for many homeowners. From Washington, which has earmarked $150 million in stimulus money for individuals upgrading their energy sources, to Massachusetts, which has set aside $68 million in rebate money for those electing to go solar, there are plenty of incentives around to switch to sun-generated power. In his speech last month about the oil spill, President Obama mentioned solar as an alternative to fossil fuels, and this month he announced $1.85 billion in loan guarantees to help build solar-power plants.

And look who’s touting the virtues of solar energy now: Actor Larry Hagman, reprising his “Dallas’’ TV series role as oil tycoon J.R. Ewing, stars in a new ad promoting SolarWorld, a German manufacturer of photovoltaic modules. “Shine, baby, shine,’’ chirps Hagman, whose California home draws its power from the sun.

In 2007, according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, 374 residential solar photovoltaic systems were installed statewide. That figure climbed to 494 in 2008 and to 847 last year. By the middle of this year, 360 home systems had been installed, with another 102 in the pipeline. Nationally, according to a 2009 report by the US Solar Industry, there has been a 37 percent increase in residential installations since 2008. The US Department of Energy will soon release its own measurement of solar energy’s potential growth over the next 20 years. (Only a small fraction — less than 1 percent — of the domestic energy supply comes from solar power.)

Meanwhile, businesses like SunRun, a home-solar financing company offering lease arrangements as a low-cost option to buying, have been taking advantage of the economic climate change in Massachusetts and elsewhere. SunRun customers typically pay $1,000 or less in upfront costs — it can run $25,000 or more to buy and install a home solar system — plus a monthly fee for electricity use. This fee averages 5 to 10 percent less than what utility companies charge, according to SunRun. Rates are locked in for the contract’s standard 18-year duration, providing insurance against rising electric bills, and any surplus energy generated is resold and credited to the homeowner’s account. SunRun pays for all repairs and maintenance on the system. Customers remain plugged into the power grid (cloudy days and sunny) while using an energy source that’s about as eco-friendly as they come.

Interest in solar energy and solar-cell technology, which dates to the 19th century, gained momentum during the 1970s energy crisis. Until relatively recently, however, the cost of converting to home solar use, plus the years it took to see a payback on that investment, made many homeowners wary.

“We’ve seen three dramatic changes within the last couple of years,’’ said Carter Wall, an executive with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. “One, the cost of solar panels has come down dramatically, 30 to 40 percent. Two, there are many different financing options now available. And three, we’ve seen the development of a robust, experienced, and competitive installer base.’’ Massachusetts now has more than 200 solar installation companies, she noted, compared with a couple of dozen a few years ago.

Ian Bowles, state energy and environmental affairs secretary, said the number of recent solar converts validates his administration’s commitment to promoting wind and solar power as energy alternatives. His office projects a twentyfold statewide increase in solar-generated power between 2008 and the end of this year. Wind power may have generated more headlines recently, Bowles said, but it’s solar that may have the brighter future.

“It’s the one noncontroversial technology with the potential to be ubiquitous,’’ Bowles said.

SunRun has targeted five states, including Massachusetts, where electricity costs are high and rebate money plentiful, for its residential solar-leasing program, claiming homeowners will save $10,000-$15,000 over their contract years. Beyond the dollars and kilowatt hours, however, what is driving many to the solar option is something harder to quantify but perhaps more significant: an awareness that what happens in Louisiana or Iraq has a direct connection to choices they make at home.

Andrew Taylor, a software programmer from Barre, installed three separate solar systems over the past two years, the largest a 28-panel array mounted on backyard poles. “I wouldn’t call myself a greenie at all; I’d call myself cheap,’’ Taylor said. “It’s a combination of wanting to try out what’s new and looking at an electric bill’’ — on average, $200 a month — “that’s been too high for too long.’’ His system retailed for $48,000, he said, financed with a “green’’ loan from his bank and a rebate check from the government.

Adam Shuster of Ashland falls more conspicuously into the “greenie’’ camp. He opted for a SunRun-leased system last year, prodded by his older son, Kenny, who was 11, to do something more environmentally responsible than recycle household trash. He began researching solar options in early 2009 but was discouraged by the high costs. When he heard about the lease option, Shuster said, he grew more interested. Still, he worried about aesthetics. Two dozen rooftop panels might power his home, he reasoned, but not look so hot doing it.

“Then Kenny asked me, ‘Do you want a nice-looking house and an ugly planet, or an ugly house and a nice-looking planet?’ ’’ said Shuster, 46, an executive with Easter Seals Massachusetts.

Installed last September, his system has already generated 3,800 kilowatt hours of electricity; Shuster checks his meter every day. Although the savings, about 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, have been modest, he said he expects to save more as utility fees continue to rise.

“I think we all feel good about doing something for the environment,’’ said Shuster, who has persuaded his parents to install solar panels at their house in New Jersey.

Doug Herberich, whose 2,000-square-foot house straddles the Brookline-West Roxbury line, went solar a year ago because of concerns for the environment, the country’s national security interests, and his own electricity bill. Having already taken energy-conservation steps such as replacing old appliances and switching to a high-efficiency gas furnace, Herberich, 56, who works in real estate management, considered an array of solar panels on his roof to be “the culmination of all those things I’d been trying to do.’’ A year later, his electric bills are about two-thirds of what he used to pay. But there are other benefits, including peace of mind.

“To have [oil] spilling in the Gulf or go fight for it in the Mideast bothers me a lot,’’ Herberich said.

Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.