To be fully transparent with you, I loved the idea of going solar. I had done my research and I knew that we would save some in the long run. I would help the environment a little by producing more energy than I consumed. And the techie in me liked to geek out on these kinds of things. I had already looked into installing solar a couple of times but the proposed systems were not right. To close this deal it came down to convincing my wife.
My wife is super smart. Ph.D. smart. So I didn’t understand why she wasn’t getting it. It came down to a few simple questions she need answers to.
Before I get into the questions I need to give some context as to why she asked these questions. In a different house about 10 years ago we installed a solar swimming pool heater. This is one of those systems where small black pipes are on your roof and are heated by the sun. Completely different technology than solar panels! We had a pool with an open hot tub and a broken LP gas heater. We wanted a cost-effective way to warm up the pool and heat the hot tub.
We found an installer and the temperature of the pool water did increase but not to the level we wanted. Additionally, we were looking for 104 degrees for the hot tub. The problem was that someone had to be home several hours prior to getting into the tub to switch the water flow to the hot tub to get it warm. After 5:00, it was too late. The water was not warm enough to really enjoy a good soak. To summarize the experience, it was expensive, it didn’t work well, and it turned out to be a bust for us.
Getting back to my wife’s questions:
Was It Expensive?
Basically she wanted to know was there an upfront cost and would it cost us more than we were paying now?
The short answer was no, it was not expensive to switch to solar energy. We would spend no more than our average monthly bill and it actually turned out to be less than that amount. Looking at our average monthly kilowatt usage and sizing the system slightly over our monthly demand, I knew that this was not only going to meet our electric needs but also exceed them.
Since there were no upfront costs and we were going to finance the system and pay back the low-interest loan with a monthly payment, I knew exactly what we would pay every month. That is not something I could dependably say would happen with our Florida Power and Light utility bill. FPL frequently raises the rates to account for increased fuel costs to run their plants. Without a doubt, the cost of buying electricity from the utility would continue to increase. My bill would not change once I was producing my own electricity with solar!
Was It Going To Work?
Solar panels have been around for quite a while and have become more and more efficient. Each panel has a known kilowatt output when installed correctly. Before the proposal from our solar company was given to us, a site survey was done and this helped them to project the output of the recommended system. In addition to the projection, SunVena was guaranteeing the output of the system. If it performed under what was projected, they would pay us the difference.
How Are You Making Money?
Since we were going to finance the solar panels, SunVena would get paid the full agreed upon amount once the install happened. They would get their money and we had our system.
Leave No Questions Unanswered
Now I am joking a little bit about her needing to be convinced but it does point out how important it is to have everything explained before signing the contract.
If you are not comfortable with something, ask lots of questions until it is clear. This is a big purchase and you want to make sure that you understand everything in the contract.
Now that we have our solar panels, we are saving money on our electric bill each month. In addition, we are selling energy that we generate back to the power company. So not only are we saving money, but we are actually making money from our solar panels!