Learn how one family found their motivation to install solar on their home.
Doing something good for the planet can feel as good as doing something nice for someone without expecting anything in return.
This is what came to mind when I was chatting with a friend of mine recently about this website and some of her personal experiences with making eco-friendly changes in her life.
My friend, Elizabeth, is a writer whom I have worked with on various projects, but she is also an environmental enthusiast. She offered to write this guest blog and share her experience and motivation for powering her suburban home with solar energy and the unexpected return on investment it yielded.
“Since we installed our solar panels last year, a favorite daily pastime is now checking the solar power battery app to see if we’re 100% off the grid. Most days the rewarding answer is yes!”
My husband and I live in a smaller single-story home just under 1,500-square feet. We raised two children here who are now grown and moved out, so we are relatively light energy users. Over the years, we have done a lot of energy-efficient upgrades like dual-pane windows, new air ducting, solatubes to bring daytime light into formerly dark hallways and one of our favorite upgrades so far, a whole-house fan. As a result, our energy bills are reasonably low.
Asking the Right Question: Return on Investment Vs. Environmental Footprint
When we replaced our front and back lawns with native, drought-tolerant plants, we could see that the impact on our water usage was dramatic! So, we asked ourselves how we could generate a similar impact on our energy bill. But for too many years, every time we looked into adding solar panels to our home, the cost seemed too high and the return on investment too long.
In hindsight, I realized we weren’t necessarily asking the right question.
About a year ago, we started thinking about it differently. With all the studies reporting the negative effects of climate change and the harm it’s doing to our world, we knew we had to look at it from a different angle. This is when we reframed the solar power discussion and the question we asked ourselves changed from what the return on investment would be, to how we could lower our environmental footprint.
The Unexpected Benefits that Added an Extra Appeal to Solar
Living in an area where we average 264 sunny days was definitely one of the motivating elements that gave us even more reason to tap into solar power. And as I started talking with friends who generously shared their experiences and research, there were even more benefits that we hadn’t realized.
A couple of our neighbors filled me in about the federal tax credit of 26%, which, if I’m being honest, really helped move the needle toward taking the plunge. (This Department of Energy guide provides information about how that credit works.)
Another friend told me about her research into adding a solar battery to the system. I hadn’t looked into that yet and didn’t realize what a gamechanger it is for overall energy efficiency! Little did we know that adding a battery backup would become a huge long-term gamechanger.
Choosing a Solar Power Company
When we were in the beginning stages of research, the first couple companies that I contacted didn’t offer batteries, so we got estimates for the solar panels only. But we knew from our research that we definitely wanted a battery, so our search continued.
Fortunately, my favorite membership club partners with a local vendor that did offer batteries as an add-on to their solar system. I am a huge fan of this membership club and like their quality and customer service guarantees, so gave their vendor partner a call.
Because our house is moderately small and we are now empty nesters (and low-energy consumers), the solar company calculated an eight-panel system for us. In the future, we want to get an electric car, so we upsized the system to accommodate that as well. Our current solar power system consists of 11 panels on two different areas of our roof to maximize sun exposure and the Tesla Powerwall battery.
How The Solar System is Doing Now
Our complete system was installed in December 2020, and it took a little trial and error to figure out how to maximize all the features. Initially, the solar company counseled us to use our battery during peak power rate times, which for us, was 4-11 p.m. But over time, we realized we could power the house completely on the solar power during daylight, so it made sense to switch to the battery once the sun set. With that shift, we are now usually 100% off the grid. On a rare rainy day in October, we still managed to be 53% self-powered.
Our Tesla Power Wall is the reason we are 100% off the grid most days. We run our house on solar panels during the day and it automatically shifts to the battery once the sun goes down. Even on cloudy days, the system still works for us with the battery.
An unexpected – and much loved – feature of having a battery is being able to power our home during a utility power outage. In fact, one evening last summer we didn’t even know the power was out in our neighborhood as we sat in our living room with the lights on, watching TV. We heard neighbors in the street asking one another if their power was out. Then we heard one of them ask why our house was fully lit up. Another neighbor was able to explain that we were on our battery. I think they all had serious battery-envy that night!
Our utility bills are $10 for electricity. Our “true-up” month with our utility is in April and according to our monthly statements, we are generating so much extra energy every month that we shouldn’t owe any additional money, and, in fact, should have a credit.
It feels so great to be mostly self-powered that we are looking for opportunities to maximize it. We purchased an induction electric stove earlier this year and are looking forward to switching to an electric car next year. Those changes will mean the best of all possibilities: a shorter return on investment and a lighter environmental footprint!
About the Author: Elizabeth C. Rajs is a writer based in the Bay Area. A California native, she grew up in Los Angeles and has now lived in Pleasanton for more than 30 years. She and her husband, Ralph, are fitness enthusiasts and have their own wellness-focused blog, RE-Active.blog.
I live in Florida where we too have many sunny days each year. I am going to do some research and number crunching on the ROI. Thanks for the tips!