Solar Homeowner Feature: The Henriksons

Miriam and Jim Henrikson recently became one of the first SunCommon solar homeowners in Milton. After reading about SunCommon in the Milton Independent they contacted us and soon after decided to take advantage of our low cost offer to buy the system outright! 10 weeks later, they have flipped the switch and now obsessively watch their meter spin backwards. We’re super excited for them!

Had you ever looked into solar for your home before? Why did you decide to go with SunCommon?

No, but we did look into wind power. Our lot was not suitable for the turbine. We chose SunCommon because we were impressed with our initial contact with Solar Guide Serena and our subsequent visit at the office in Waterbury.

Jim, you used to be an electrical engineer with CVPS so your understanding of energy is deep. What do you think about solar power?

I think it’s great now that there are no batteries.

What would your advice be to others thinking about going solar?

If possible buy vs. lease.

You two built your wonderful Milton home just a few years ago and put a lot of thought into the design and layout. How does solar fit into the design?

When site planning we placed the house for optimal benefit from the sun. We kept our house plan simple to allow for efficient and uniform heating and cooling(without AC).

How has going solar changed your living habits?

Since going solar we have become more aware of our electricity consumption and have changed some of our bad habits. Such as letting the TV run when we’re not really watching it. Now we either have peace and quiet or listen to a CD. Also we don’t turn as many lights on at night and are using battery charged candles instead. It’s really a lot of fun to realize that you have that much control over your carbon footprint! We’ve already eliminated 202 kg of carbon emissions from the environment since going solar!!!