I have been a solar skeptic in the past, and in some ways, still am. The reason I say I still am somewhat of a skeptic is because there's a lot of (how can I put this delicately) sales tactics out there that are almost tantamount to being outright scams, and some seemingly very shady outfits.
I looked into solar a few times over the past decade, and the return on the investment was never good enough for me to want to take the leap. Last fall, we were considering adding a natural gas generator to our home, and while researching them, stumbled upon solar systems.
To make what could be a very long story short - beginning last fall, I began exploring solar systems again. I talked to virtually every solar installer under the sun (pun intended). If I saw an ad for solar - I responded. If I got a robocall from a solar company, I answered. And I met with all of them (and then some).
All claimed they would save countless dollars over the years, but when comparing presentations and quotes, and after doing a deep dive into the information, the numbers did not always add up. Actually, they never added up.
So, I took a different approach. I researched the market for different types of systems, and then made my own decision on what system was the best choice. Once I decided on a system, I reached out to the manufacturers to find certified installers in our area for the system I selected.
I signed a contract to have the system installed the end of March this year, and the system went live the very end of June. The only reason it took as long as it did, was we could only move at the speed of Eversource to process all the applications.
I just received our first electric bill. I'm tracking all the data in a spreadsheet. Without boring you with all the numbers, the bottom line is that we saved $383.76 for July alone over what it would have cost us had we not gone solar. At current rates, our return investment will be 4.7 years, which will be even sooner if rates continue to rise.
Our system also has a unique and novel piece to it, which is "sunlight backup", which can power some essential circuits during the day during a power outage, without the need for batteries or a generator! https://enphase.com/installers/systems/sunlight-backup
I highly recommend https://reliablesolarsolutions.com/ who installed my system. Their presentation and quote was one of the few (and I mean very few) that matched my own calculations for the system I had already chosen. This is important because had I found this company first, it would have saved me countless hours and frustrations dealing with what quite literally were the modern-day equivalent of snake oil salespersons. And the numbers our system is producing are as good as or even better than their projections. So, I have every confidence that if they give you a presentation or quote, it's going to be for a top-notch system with no smoke and mirrors. The numbers they say are the numbers you will get. You can tell Artie I referred you to him! read more
