Existing Ecosystem Benefits
On average, the existing trees around the property provide $867.77 in savings each year. This includes the benefits of stormwater management, air quality, energy savings, and more. The photo to the left shows the approximate location of the trees immediately adjacent to the house, though there are many more located along the lower and right portions of the parcel. This is demonstrated in the picture on the right, where the green signifies canopy coverage. The blue line indicates the creek that runs through the property.
Of the savings that these trees provide, their involvement in stormwater management is the most crucial. Because the property has such steep grades, the trees are essential in erosion control and water retention processes. This is especially important along the creekside, where the trees prevent the hillside from completely eroding away and threatening the structural integrity of the house.
Tree cover, as discussed previously, benefits the house in the summer by offering shade that reduces overall temperature and allowing for sunlight to reach the house during the winter to help warm surfaces.
Proposed Ecosystem Benefits
In order to accommodate solar panels, at least 6 trees would have to be removed from the lower half of the site to clear out enough canopy for sun to reach the panels. The removal of these trees would reduce the average property savings to $698.43 per year. The addition of solar panels to the roof of the house, seen as the yellow square on top of the house to the right, would certainly offset energy costs and allow the owner to give and take from the energy grid as needed.
Because of how the site is oriented, I cannot recommend this course of action. The front of the house faces west, making its orientation already unsuited to the installation of solar panels. Similarly, it is situated in a heavily wooded lot where the trees are essential for more than just energy saving reasons.
The best location for the solar panels is also one of the worst places to be removing trees. The existing grade on the south side of the house is extremely steep and leads directly down into a creek. The trees that would be removed provide vital erosion control and slope stabilisation. In the long run, though energy may be saved and the site made more sustainable through the introduction of solar panels, the site modifications that would have to be made would cause more harm to the site than good.