Entrepreneurs tout benefits of solar power

On a gravel lot next to Radiological Imaging Technology's office building on List Drive, workers are placing the last of 683 solar panels onto steel frames. On a sunny day, the completed array will produce 147 kilowatts of electricity–the largest private solar-power system in the city. For Dan Ritt, RIT's founder and president, the panels are a gamble, a billboard, a point of pride and an investment. That last point is comparatively new territory for solar power, long the province of hard-core environmentalists and far-flung homes off the electrical grid. But rapidly falling prices for solar panels and equipment, coupled with generous subsidies from federal, state and local governments, are making solar power an intriguing option for businesses and homeowners looking to hedge their power costs. "The return on investment for Phase 1 (the first 312 panels) was five years," Ritt said. "You'd be hard-pressed to find another investment like that."