Curious about the process of getting a solar panel system for your home? Here's my experience with purchasing a solar panel system and all the many steps involved.
Yep, I opened the door to a door-to-door salesperson. But it was all good, because she got me back on track with a project I'd started several years ago -- solar panels for our house. Back in 2015, I had done tons of research and gotten quotes from a few companies. We even had an electric car at the time, so getting solar panels made perfect sense since our electricity needs had gone way up. Before I could make a decision though, my husband got laid off and the whole project got shelved. Solar representatives had come to the door several times over the past few years and I always said not today, we had too much uncertainty still. But things have finally settled down and I was ready to reconsider solar panels when she came to our door.
I did end up getting a quote from that company (a nationwide public company that offers a whole range of solar programs). Not surprisingly though, given that they sell door to door, their sales presentation was overly pushy, and they couldn't even provide an actual hard copy proposal, or even a PDF. Most definitely not the company for us. I did more research on local companies and got two more proposals. The standout company was Boston Solar. Not only was their quote the lowest (but not by a "Hmm, that's fishy" huge amount), but their proposal was also the most thorough and well-explained. Installing solar panels (and purchasing them, like we did, instead of leasing) is complex, and it's important to understand all the ramifications.
I had a vision of solar panels on our whole roof, generating all the electricity we needed and even some to sell back to National Grid, but the sales rep showed me that full coverage of our roof didn't make sense. Two of the roof surfaces faced southwest (full south is the ideal) and would be 91-94% efficient. But the other roof surfaces faced northeast. Putting a small array high on one of those roofs would be about 54% efficient and would help us cover almost 100% of our electricity needs, but the other roof surface would be much less efficient and just not worth the cost of the panels. This made perfect sense, and it made me re-examine the other proposals to see if they were as clear for solar newbies like me. Nope, the other local company hadn't explained any of this and had proposed a system that covered the inefficient roof too. And the national company? Who knows, since they wouldn't provide an actual proposal -- I could only look at it on their laptop.
I signed with Boston Solar in early August 2019, and our solar system was installed just 8 weeks later, at the end of October 2019. The whole process was incredibly well-managed. A project coordinator was assigned to us, and she communicated with me every step of the way. There were all kinds of applications and paperwork that she had to submit to National Grid and the state, and they were all copied to me. There were just a few that I had to sign electronically; she took care of everything else, and it proceeded smoothly and quickly. They had checked our roof during the sales process, but an installer came again to take a detailed look at the roof structure and ensure that no additional support was needed. In early October, our project coordinator let me know they would begin the installation and we set a date. That particular day ended up with high winds, so the installers did the basic electrical work on the side of the house and also were able to install the grid work on the roof but not the panels -- they're glass and heavy and the winds were just too high. They came back the following week, finished up the panel installation, and did the rest of the electrical work, including installing a conduit (a pipe to hold the power cables) in the attic. My town sent an electrical inspector and the building inspector; both remarked on what a nice and neat job Boston Solar did. We now have 38 panels on three roof surfaces, three additional meters/boxes on the side of the house, and a conduit running up the side of the house (we can paint it eventually) and across the top of the attic, to reach the array on our garage roof. The whole system was activated about 12 days later and has been working flawlessly since.
One of the meters counts up, recording the amount of electricity our house is pulling from the regular electricity grid. The other meter counts down, recording the amount of electricity our solar system is feeding into the grid. Our system should be paid off within six years, with the 30% federal tax credit, $1000 MA tax credit, greatly reduced electricity bills (most months we don't get an electricity bill but we do during low-solar months, like January), and the SMART payments we will receive for 10 years. (SMART payments are a MA incentive program to encourage homeowners to install solar panels.) The panels are warrantied for 25 years. We're expected to come out over $110,000 ahead, incredibly, after 25 years, with the amount we save on electricity bills and the SMART payments.
Solar panels are a no-brainer, if your house has the right exposure. We purchased our panels, which has the most upfront cost but also the highest payoff. A purchased (not leased) solar panel system now even increases the sales value of your home, according to real estate agents. There are many other programs available if purchasing isn't possible; there are even MA grants for homeowners with reduced income.
I hope these details help for anyone who is thinking about adding a solar panel system to your home. There are many options, depending on your budget. If you'd like me to connect you with a Boston Solar representative, just drop me a note at barbarae@macaronikid.com or message me on Facebook. I was not compensated in any way for this article -- just a very happy customer! -- although I may receive a referral bonus if you allow me to refer you and you choose to have a Boston Solar system installed.
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