IT'S A SUBCOMPACT CAR PAYMENT

Solar Panels go up on my home on May 23, 2011

We recently made a commitment to solar power at our home in Coatesville, PA. 


Several things helped us to decide to "Go Solar"

Electric rates are going up.  

The Republicans are threatening to end all Solar and “Alternative Energy” rebates.  

The technology the installer is using, “Enphase” Microinverters and the “Enphase Envoy” monitoring system. It’s relatively inexpensive to add more solar panels and the cost of doing so appears to be getting lower month by month. 

And maybe most importantly the cost of installing solar panels has dropped significantly.  

 It’s a subcompact car payment

We were surprised that the cost was affordable, about $16,000. What is still unknown to us is how much electric power the 8 panels we have up on our roof now will generate. That is how of much the power generated by those 8 panels will replace what power we use. 

And if they do not make enough power to replace or significantly reduce our grid power use; what power savings or additional number of solar panels will be sufficient. Which is where the Enphase Microinverters come in.  You can basically put up more solar panels and plug them in to the rest of the solar panels. We have 8 and our roof will support about 20.  

So far the “Green Home Energy Solutions” lived up to their brochure promises to help us get set up on the grid as an electric power plant.

They helped us get a Coatesville Codes inspection. The City had no one qualified and Green Home Energy Solutions found the “COMMONEWEALTH CODE INSPECTION SERVICE, INC.” to do the inspection.

We have been producing electricity and connected to PECO's grid since May 23, 2011. Several weeks later we are still not recognized by PECO or on the SAEC Solar Alternative Energy Credits program. Their man has not been here to approve the hookup yet. 

You might think that certifying a customer to get what might be free electricity might be a low priority for power companies. But, my "power plant" produces power during the summer peak demand periods when everyone needs air conditioning. I think that knowing exactly how much power I am producing has got to be an asset. 

This spring the Chester County PA Solar Panels grew like weeds.

I don't have any hard data but just from casual drives around Chester County I think the PECO solar man is very busy. 

But and this is a big but:

New Jersey and Pennsylvania Solar Renewable Energy Credit Markets Choking to Death

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June 9, 2011 in Clean Energy, Policy, Solar Energy