HOW TO CHOOSE A SOLAR ENERGY COMPANY

With electricity prices increases each month across Texas, renewable energy is showing just how lowcost and valuable it is. Getting the best long-term value for your home investment still largely results from picking a solar company that you can trust into the years ahead. Consider these qualities:

REPUTATION:

Reviews on Google, Facebook, and Solar Reviews are considered by many in the industry to be the “gold standard.” Many “Top 10” ads are simply clickbait ads to get you to input your name, then have your personal information sold to 3rd party “lead generation” companies. Get past these misleading ads by going straight to the websites of solar companies and see if the names of key leaders is actually there for you to read and see.

Reputation proven over time is evidence that the company is doing the right thing. Too many companies have come and gone so look for local companies that have a long-term proven track record. What is long-term these days?

Anything less than 5 years means the company might not have the track record to prove this viability to you.

The System

The residential “rooftop” marketplace is 98% saturated by Enphase and SolarEdge systems –for good reason. Those two brands meet National Electric Code requirements for “rapid shutdown” out of the box, with their own components. While other inverters are appropriate for ground mounts and non-rooftop systems, when they are used in a rooftop system, then 3rd party “rapid shutdown” devices must be installed and those differently-branded add-ons increase cost and potentially set up long-term reliability issues.

BATTERIES?

Today, nearly three of five installed residential systems have battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed or are “BESS-ready.” Energy storage is much more than backup – it is the key to advanced home energy management where the solar inverter – with your installer programming – manages energy consumption. Want to use your own battery and stored solar energy at night – no problem. Does your electric cooperative offer less credit for energy fed back to the grid at different times – no problem, the optimum time of use profile can be set. Remember, you buy BESS for the backup capability, but you’ll love it for the energy management features it provides.

Financing Options

There has not been a better time to buy solar. Solar financing companies such as Sungage offer no-money down loans that make purchasing solar for your home easy and straight-forward.

Solar loans typically offer lower interest rates than home equity lines of credit, without the need for complicated loan closings, fees, and reappraisals.

Your solar installer can input your system details and often within 30-minutes, your loan for solar can be approved. Battery energy storage can be included in your solar loan, with terms as low as 0.99% for 25-years. Sungage loans have no pre-payment penalty too so it’s a low-cost / no-risk way to finance solar.

Leases used to be popular in some parts of the country but I think their time has passed since with a solar loan, you own the system and take the 36% Federal tax credit (P.S. –this Tax Credit reduces to 22% next year!) plus, a solar lease makes it very complicated if you do decide to sell your home.

Solar is cheaper than utility grid electricity right now.

Solar energy – even with financing – equates to having electricity produced at about 11-cents per kilowatt hour on a typical system, Compare that with current retail electric plans where electricity is 16, 18, as high as 20-cents per kilowatt hour. Electricity has actually had higher inflation than gasoline but many don’t notice it…until it’s time to renew their electric plan. If you only filled up your gas tank once every two years, can you imagine that shock? That’s what you get today in Texas. Consider solar -it’s an amazing long-term investment that will protect you from energy inflation.