Solar Myths, Busted.

For the past seven months we’ve been talking to thousands of Vermont homeowners about how we can help them go solar. Since SunCommon is a new solar company unlike any other, we’re undoing a lot of assumptions about solar. SunCommon is helping change the way people see solar; it’s a tough job, but we love it.
Here are a couple myths we’ve busted:

SunCommon Mascot

Solar power is stupid expensive.

It was. But we figured out how to make it actually save you money. We understand that this is the hardest (and best!) reality to wrap your head around and we don’t feel like we can it say enough: Solar can save you money!
SunCommon offers Vermont homeowners solar systems for no upfront cost and a monthly payment less than their utility bill. Folks can save money now by going solar. Repeat.

A few years back when our co-founders Duane Peterson and James Moore first began thinking about how to dramatically increase adoption of renewable energy, they were shocked to learn of the universal expectation that consumers would aggregate significant capital and “pay forward” their electricity usage. No other consumer product is sold on that model. Imagine if your cellphone carrier demanded that you pay upfront 8 years worth of cellphone minutes, not one of us would have a cellphone. Instead, cellphone customers pay a monthly fee for their service. Similarly, electricity consumers are accustomed to paying a monthly fee for their power. So our founders set out to meet electricity consumers where they already are, by offering electricity from solar for the same (or less) that what conventional power costs them via a loan or lease option. For the vast majority of Vermonters, that’s a very attractive offering and more importantly makes going solar a reality.

Solar is unfair by relying on subsidies.

All energy sources receive government support. Solar is maybe the most visible, since the incentives are explicit and paid upon construction.

Nuclear power would not exist without the federal government accepting the liability for accidents. The burning of coal and oil appears cheap because the government absolves fossil fuel companies from the costs of pollution, health effects and climate change – while still lavishing the profitable oil companies with billions in direct aid each year. Solar receives relatively little government support compared to these other power sources, yet by sending your power back to the grid, solar is an important local community asset that garners government funding.

What other myths are we busting or not busting for you? We want to hear!

So, what does it cost to go solar? At SunCommon, we work to make solar affordable for all Vermonter’s. We offer the ability to own your panels at no upfront cost and a low monthly payment that looks a lot like the utility bill it’s replacing. We also have our Community Solar Membership program, which guarantees 7% savings. No matter what solution works best for you, the cost is a lot less than you think.