Marilynne's World

Power from the sun

My web friend Sabahat wanted to know how we went about deciding to go solar and where we got our information. Instead of answering Sabahat privately, I’ve decided to blog about the process.
Because we are both very strong people, my husband and I take on projects, which are ours to do without interference from the other. This was my husband’s project so I’m telling you what I observed, not what I did.
We have always been interested in solar energy. I remember in college our Environmental Science class took simple solar cells out on the lawns to observe them working and to see what happened when you shaded them or covered them. It was an easy experiment and the simplicity of it has always stayed with me.
We live in sunny Southern California. We have many sunny days and a long south-facing roof on which to put solar panels.
Buying solar in the midst of a recession was not an easy decision for a retired couple on a fixed income. However, we liked the idea of being relatively independent of the electric company. We buy our electricity on the basis of tiers, each tier costing more than the previous one. Currently, we are paying for our electrical use at the fifth tier and our electricity is very expensive. By using solar energy, not only will we get have the benefits of solar, we will also bring our electricity usage down to the first or second tier where electricity is much, much cheaper. So we will buy less electricity (stupendously less), the electricity we do buy will cost us less.

• The government is offering incentives and will give us a tax rebate for a good portion of the cost. We have missed the deadline for a larger rebate, but felt we needed more time to learn and debate.
• The first thing we learned was solar power may be simple, but collecting solar energy to make electricity is a little more difficult.
• My husband went to solar seminars given by local governments. These seminars are given hoping to excite you about solar without having to field a sales pitch.
• Do your research. My husband spent many hours on the web learning all he could about solar energy. Then he spent a lot of time researching solar energy companies in our area.
• We made a short list of companies who might fit our needs. We contacted them and asked for information. This process was enlightening. Some people were eager to send information and some were not. (We could ask why?) Others wanted to sell us solar energy from the comfort of their offices and not even come out to talk to us.
• We shortened the short list immediately by eliminating anyone who seemed to just want to “sell something” from the office.
• We invited the interesting companies to come out and visit our home and give us an estimate of costs. In all, about five companies sent a representative to talk to us about their product. We gave them the time they wanted to tell us about their product. My husband generated a list of questions to ask to be sure that each person covered the topics interesting to us.
• On the basis of the visits, we narrowed the short list to two. One person was eliminated after a most informative talk simply because their estimate was thousands of dollars more than the other estimates. We liked her company’s product, but felt her estimate wasn’t competitive.
• We subscribe to Angie’s List. This is a list that allows subscribers to see reviews of contractor’s work and provide feedback if they use the company. As an example, we located our last two candidates on Angie’s list and read what other customers had to say about them as well as the contractor’s response to that review. The company we selected did have one bad review, but after reading the contractor’s response we felt that the problem had been resolved correctly. In addition, my husband asked the contractor to explain the bad review. It was explained to our satisfaction. Angie’s List also has a link to the Better Business Bureau so you can check them too.
• After looking at our finances and considering the contractor’s offers we chose one and put down a small deposit. (This deposit is limited by law in California.) Reviewing our finances was important because we had several options and we chose the one that seemed to fit our situation best.
• A rep came out today to measure the roof for solar panels. We will be using 40+ panels and are fortunate to have enough roof to handle them.

So, yesterday a tree guy came out to cut down the large pepper tree that has shaded the south side of our home because it was shading the roof. It was a sad day, but necessary. Any shade on the solar panels causes ALL of the solar panels to generate less electricity. In this case, we need the sun.
Today the solar company came out to do a detailed examination of our roof and our electrical box. He measured the roof so they can plan where to put the panels. They plan to leave a 2 ft margin at the top of the roof. This space is left bare so that in case of fire the firemen can break through the roof to fight the fire. (Note that any fire would not be cause by the solar panels.) Again, leaving the 2-ft. margin is a matter of law, not of choice.)
So, that’s where we are today. I’ll keep updating what’s going on so check back. Check the Solar Category.

Marilynne