The Conservation Conversation: How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint (Part 3 of 3)

Residential solar electric energy has finally come of age. Now, when the advertisement says: “No money down,” it’s not a scam. In the past, if you wanted solar panels you paid the installer up front -- thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars. Then you applied to the government for various tax incentives, which months later would defray part of your initial outlay. Your electric bill would be reduced by the amount of solar energy you produced, so eventually you'd recoup all of your initial investment and thereafter enjoy the “profit” from a perpetually lower electric bill. Typically, the payback time was 6-7 years. If you could afford the initial outlay, and you expected to stay in your house beyond the payback period, this approach was OK. But most homeowners weren’t going for it, so private residential solar wasn't gaining much of a toehold. Then, a few years ago, a new business model swept the industry. Now the solar installation company leases your roof, and puts up the solar panels and maintains them at its own expense. You literally pay no money down. Here's how it works. You request an initial price quote over the internet. The solar company looks at aerial images of your home to see how your house is configured – roof angle and orientation, and shading from trees or buildings – and may ask about your electric usage. If things look favorable, you'll get an initial estimate. Next the company will inspect to confirm the exact roof angle, orientation, and shading. That allows them to calculate with considerable precision the amount of "insolation" (sunshine) your roof will receive in an average year, so they can give you a firm offer. And here's how the offer works. As the ad says, you'll pay no money down. You’ll be asked to sign a contract leasing your roof to the solar company for 20 years. The company will install the panels and be responsible for their maintenance. The company will also apply for all necessary permits, insurance and tax benefits. (You don’t get the tax benefits because you don’t own the panels.) The electricity made by the panels is fed into the grid, so your meter effectively runs backwards. Your monthly utility bill is reduced by the amount of kilowatts made by the solar panels. During the 20 year lease period you’ll pay the solar company the same, fixed amount every month; and the solar company guarantees that the solar panels will generate a specified, minimum number of kilowatts each year. The combined total of what you pay the solar company, plus what you continue to pay your electric utility, will be less -- a lot less -- than what you currently pay the utility. The result is that you will have paid no money down, as promised by the advertisement, and you will realize significant monthly savings starting immediately. This really is a win-win-win situation. You are saving money every month, the solar company is getting a fair return on its investment, and you are dramatically reducing your carbon footprint thereby helping to save the planet. There are of course a few caveats. First, if you have too much shading on your roof, the solar company won't make you an offer. Even a relatively small amount of shading can have a significant negative impact on the output from the panels. If the shading comes from trees you can agree to cut them down, but that may be undesirable for other reasons (aesthetics, keeping the house cooler in the summer, screening from neighbors). Second, because the electricity from the solar panels is fed directly into the grid, those panels won't do you any good during an area-wide blackout -- your house will be dark the same as your neighbors. And third, if your current roof shingles are old and will need to be replaced in the next few years, you should do that job before the solar panels go up. (Once they are on the roof, they actually protect the shingles from UV and storm damage, thus prolonging the life of the roof.) Oh, one more thing: today’s solar panels aren’t thick and silver and clunky anymore; they are sleek and black and look quite good. So do it now -- go online and get an initial estimate from one of the many solar companies now serving your area. You may be very pleasantly surprised.