Cindy Abercrombie suffered a bit of sticker shock when she saw her electric bill for last month.

After running the air conditioner semi-regularly and using all the modern necessities, like a washer and dryer, dishwasher, lights and television, her last bill was a whopping $16.71 compared to almost $400 a year ago.

Abercrombie had solar panels installed on the roof of her Tracy home, along with more than a dozen other Tracy residents in the past 18 months, and expects the system to pay for itself in a few years.

During February, March and April, I dont think we had a bill

over $12, and that included ourhot water and natural gas, she said. Its been absolutely amazing. I would encourage anyone with extra funds to do it.

She said when her air conditioner is running, the solar panels produce enough energy to power about 75 percent of the unit and, because its only on a few hours a day, most of the time theyre overproducing.

When I dont have the air on, we sell power back to (Pacific Gas & Electric), and it quite literally goes to our neighbors, Abercrombie said. Its almost a draw. Out of pocket, this was a perfect heat wave.

After the last weeks heat wave, Joseph Fairbanks, sales manager for Power Independence Electric in Stockton,

said hes definitely getting twice as many inquiries into switching to solar power, but that hasnt converted into additional sales. He said people dont make decisions to purchase on a whim because of $400 electric bills.

It takes a lot of homework. No one is buying because its good for the environment or its the right thing to do,Fairbanks said. Its for the pocketbook or by people who are savvy about returns.

Fairbanks doesnt expect the price of a solar system to come down. There is a shortage of solar panels and demand is outpacing supply.

He said installing a solar photovaltaic system on a house generally costs 10 times an electric bill, plus a few thousand dollars. But through rebates, tax credits, and purchasing options, the price drops a few thousand dollars.

If you want to get a system, you should do it now, because rebates go down and the cost goes up, Fairbanks said. Buy a solar system now and you can get it installed by Christmas. The people I installed last Christmas are really happy right now.

Then there are those microscopic electric bills.

Tracy resident John Akin said his last bill was $5.99. He gets a statement every month and pays his electric bill once a year now. He said it could take only a few years for his system to pay for itself.

Im running the AC now and the bill is still pretty cheap, Akin said. Other than that, Im helping the environment, thats what I want to do, which makes it really easy.

Emily Barnett, a spokeswoman for PG&E, said the company has been offering rebates since 2002 and has so far, paid out more than $130 million. She said the 11,000 customers in California using solar power are the most of any utility company in the nation.

We love solar power, Barnett said. The rebates are an enticement for people to move to solar and were pleased that so many people have used them.

Shes heard of rebates sometimes covering up to half the cost of a system being installed, but thats not the norm. Its usually a smaller percentage of the system and the homeowner has requirements to meet.

Akin spent about $25,000 after rebates to get 32 panels installed on his garage. It took six months for his order to be filled but only a day for everything to be put in.

So far, its been doing excellent, Akin said. I dont see why more people dont have them.