Going solar is now FREE for homeowners in NJ.

You’ve seen the solar panels on the telephone poles everywhere you go and you’ve probably heard or have seen it on the news, phase 1 of something called the New Jersey Clean Energy Program. Well now in 2016 we are starting to enter phase two, which is where the state of New Jersey is funding solar projects for your home.

I was intrigued to do a little research on the most dependable and highest rated solar company out there and how people needed to go about receiving this “free” money from the state and federal government. After trolling through web articles and comparing reviews, I found an interesting company that seems to be already very popular. Backed by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, SolarCity is a solar company that works together with homeowners to get money from the state and the federal government to pay for a solar system to be installed at absolutely no cost to the homeowner. Interestingly, most people are able to cut their bills by about 20-40 percent. SolarCity also only charges about .13 cents per kilowatt hour and locks you in at that price with only an estimated increase of about 2.9% increase over the next 20 years, versus JCP&L’s current average price of .18 cents and PSE&G’s average price of .20 cents, both increasing by .2-.5 cents over the last 8 years. If you do the math, having SolarCity’s panels installed for free, paying the .13 cents, and accounting for the 2 increase over the next 20 years, you wouldn’t be paying today’s JCP&L prices until the year 2028! The SolarCity company also has an outstanding portfolio and is contracted with well known corporations such as Walmart, HomeDepot, BMW and Target for large solar installation projects on their free standing buildings at various locations.

The thing is, only about 60% of the homes in the New Jersey area are qualifying for the federal and state funding. In order to get the system paid for, there has to be a couple things in place to qualify. For instance, the homeowner has to have a decent credit score. The state and federal government, and Solar City are investing a lot of money into you and your home so they just need to know that you’re paying your bills and that you own the home. Secondly, you have to have a consistent internet connection at your house, which these days most people do. Lastly, they obviously need to make sure that your roof can not only structurally support the panels, but also receives enough sunlight hours and has a particular southern mounting plane.

After speaking with one of their trained Energy Consultants, an appointment is made to go over a 20 year agreement that is specifically tailored to your energy needs. After a site survey is complete, SolarCity takes care of all the necessary permits and forms  the installation takes only one days work. SolarCity has average start to finish time of about 4-5 weeks and everything is recorded and managed through their MySolarCity App.

For more information about how you can apply through SolarCity for your clean energy solar system, please contact your SolarCity Energy Consultant provided below!!

Matthew Godfrey

SolarCity Clean Energy Consultant

mgodfrey@solarcity.com