The sun's rays can turn grapes into raisins, carbon dioxide into oxygen, and rawhide into fully mustachioed cowboys. Lasso sunbeams with today's Groupon to Baker Electric Solar. This Groupon is valid in San Diego County. Choose between the following options:

• For $49, you get $2,100 toward a 3.5 kW or larger solar panel system.
• For $99, you get $3,100 toward a 6.0 kW or larger solar panel system.

Baker Electric Solar helps homeowners harness the power of the region's many days of abundant natural sunlight with customized solar-panels systems. Offering free in-home consultation and estimates, Baker Solar Electric will begin by analyzing your home, the roof's orientation to the sun, and any shading that might affect panel absorption. Baker's in-house licensed electrical engineers will then craft a proposal for a custom-designed system, which includes pricing based upon the home's history of energy needs and future energy-use goals. Afterward, certified technicians will equip edifices with photovoltaic systems that convert DC power from panels into AC power that can be used inside homes. During times when solar-system output is greater than energy needs, excess power will flow backward through the electrical meter, establishing credits with your utility company. Homeowners can subsequently draw upon these credits when solar systems are not producing energy or on cloudy days when you're inside playing dominoes, reading a book, or constructing a giant game of dominoes with every Nancy Drew book you own.

Baker Electric Solar uses a customers' average electric bill to estimate the size of the system needed to displace electricity costs. Each 3.5 kW system is intended to offset an average monthly electric bill of $100 and 6.0 kW systems are intended to offset a monthly bill of $200. Before available rebates and tax credits, the initial installation, materials, and energizing of a 3.5 kW system costs approximately $19,495 and a 6.0 kW system is $30,695. Customers can also apply for a federal incentive on their taxes and potentially earn 30% of the value of their solar contract as a tax credit. Baker Solar Electric will oversee construction, coordinate the rebate-application process, deal with local utility companies, and provide warranty and operations instructions. Baker's solar-panel systems are a low-maintenance way to help reduce your home's carbon footprint, and typically only require periodic hose-downs during dry months and the occasional application of SPF 4,000.