Featured Solar Homeowner: the Roys
Bill and Judy built their home in Williston 37 years ago and, knowing that installing solar panels was both the environmentally responsible and the economical thing to do, they positioned their home with one side of the roof facing south. They had high hopes for going solar, but because of the cost and the technology they weren’t able to manifest it at that time, or for the next few decades. Finally, in 2012, they have installed their beautiful new solar system and have shared their story of going solar!
How did you hear about SunCommon?
On a local TV news report one evening in early 2012. The report was about a company called SunCommon that was introducing a new way of making solar installations affordable for nearly every homeowner (that had a south facing roof) by leasing the panels and electronics and by tying the panels directly into the power grid. I called my wife into the room and asked her what she thought. We were both a little suspicious at first until we investigated it further…it was for real!
What had kept you from going solar previously?
Unfortunately, the cost was always somewhat prohibitive and the thought of having banks of batteries and electronics in our basement that required maintenance and frequent replacement kept us from following through with our original plan. Also, back then, the power companies were not all that accepting of customer generated power, so batteries were nearly the only option.
What was the ultimate deciding factor in making the jump to solar?
When we heard that there was a way to lease the panels, and with the new power grid technologies (not to mention power companies being more accepting of customer generated power) it had become all so much simpler. The cost, of course, was much less than it would have been if we had purchased them outright. Also, we have always been somewhat environmentally conscious and thought going solar would be a great way to reduce our carbon footprint. We have always heated primarily with wood and have a large vegetable garden, so going solar made a lot of sense to us..
What advice would you give to future solar homeowners?
The whole SunCommon process was virtually painless. All the government and legal paperwork was handled by SunCommon and required only our signature. Their subcontractors were proficient and had the panels and electronics up in no time. It’s a good feeling to know that the panels on your roof are helping the environment as well as reducing your electric bill.
What are you most excited about?!
The plans we had 37 years ago have finally come to fruition thanks to SunCommon. It’s great to see those kilowatts adding up on the monitoring electronics.
What is the most important power device your panels will be charging?
Being members of an older generation, we do not have a lot of electronics that require charging such a smartphones, etc. We do have a laptop, but that is kept plugged in most of the time with the battery removed…I know…we should have gotten a desktop :-) We do hope some day to purchase a plug-in hybrid or all electric vehicle. We imagine the panels would supply a large portion of the electricity the car would require.
