Gone Solar

Well, we have not quite had a whole month on solar yet, but it is working and our monthly cost right here in the middle of one of the hotest months will be at least 1/2 of what it was last year. I really wish we could have had them turned on for all of August, but even with less than one week covered in August, we saved over $50.

There are many benefits of solar - so we knew about and some we did not even know when we decided to do it.

1. The panels themselves, shade the roof and keep the house cooler.



2. The panels are more efficient in the cooler months.



3. We have basically paid for 6 years of power up front and then after the 6th year, we are going to pay on average, $350 per YEAR for power.



4. They pay us for power we produce but don't use.



5. We are guarenteed to get 85% of our power supplied by solar or they pay us the difference.



6. The costs of solar are greatly over estimated in the tools and information on the internet.



7. The rebates are well worth it...get them from federal, state and local energy companies (SRP, APS)...but timing can be critical..."season" starts in May for available funds.



8. Unless you invest in battery storage, you still need to "get" power from your local company at night and on cloudy days, etc. But, this can be offset by what you are able to sell to them...(net-metering).



9. We no longer have to worry about increasing costs of energy.



10. We had to remove some trees that would shade parts of the panels.



11. We are doing something great for the environment...offsetting the use of fossil fuel, and not producing polution.



12. We don't have to maintain the panels other than keeping them cleaned off...required yearly, but we just do it after a dust storm.



13. The panels just increased the value of our house, double what we paid for them.



14. For the first time ever, as an AZ Native, I find myself bumming when it is a cloudy/rainy day :).