Al Ritter’s power bill was pretty high this month. But not as high as it might have been.

Ritter, a retired Air Force electrical engineer, lives in San Antonio — a city hit hard by the great Texas drought of 2011, the worst in the state’s history. Temperatures have regularly topped 100 this summer, and the earth is baking. In the Ritters’ front yard, the cedar elm, starved for water, is losing its leaves several months ahead of schedule.

Like everyone else in town, Al and his wife have had the air conditioning working overtime.

“I expected I would’ve had a bill that was over $300 for the month for electric power,” Ritter told The Huffington Post.

Instead, he said, his most recent bill came to $252 — a savings he attributes to the array of 24 solar panels the Ritters had installed on their roof in August.

Read the rest of this story on Huffington Post Business, where it was originally published.