The Beginning: Going Solar

Nov 20 2009

The Beginning: Going Solar

By Lord Solar

The Start May

San Francisco Trip It all started with a trip to a conference in California where I heard Elon Musk speaking about Tesla Motors and Solar City. He is among the founders and chief investors in both. Once I heard about the ability to lease solar panels at a lower price than my monthly electric bill, I saw an opportunity to fulfill a long time desire to have solar on my home. After some research on the Solar City website and a look at the alternatives I talked with Shay and we decided to give it a try.

Mid May

Three days after returning from the conference I called Solar City and set up a visit to my home from their representative. I knew from the conference that the Solar City lease program (at the time) required a high credit score, Shay and I went ahead and got an approval before the in house consultation.

Late May

When the Solar City representative arrived a week later we had our APS bills ready and waiting from the past year. The Solar City representative quickly entered our monthly usage into a computer and told us we were spending about $109 a month. The good news that with the panels from Solar City we could reduce the total bill to roughly $97 a month. This was much better than Shay and I had anticipated, we were expecting to pay more for solar. After reviewing the warranty information and expected performance we signed 3 pages of paper work. Solar City took care of all coordination with APS, city permits, and even tax credits.

Mid June

A Solar City engineer showed up at my house and asked to measure my roof. He was up there for maybe an hour. Shay and I were told our home has a nice south facing roof with just the right slope, the panels would work very well.

Mid July

blueprints We received an electronic copy of our Solar City installation plans. The email contained a drawing of our roof as well as panel layout. We had a 5.1 KW system. The inverter, connections, and panels were all drawn out. We approved and anticipated an install shortly.

Mid August

An email showed up just after Shay’s birthday confirming that the Solar City team will be out to install our panels mid September.

Mid September

A giant green Solar City van pulled up to our house and we officially became the first Solar City install in Arizona. The crew was very polite and informative. On day one, they installed anchors on our roof, and were kind enough to replace a few cracked roof tiles. On day two the Solar City team mounted most of the solar panels which were surprisingly thin and light. By the end of day 3, they had installed the inverter and associated wiring without ever entering the house. It was a smooth hands off install for us as homeowners.

Mid October

Solar Roof Our local power company finally got out to inspect and approve the system by October. Our Solar City representative came out to do the activation with us. They showed us how the equipment works and we flipped the switch. The meter instantly started to spin backwards. It was great!

We also received a wireless router to relay our Solar City production data straight to the internet where Shay and I can check it from work or from our phones. Talk about conversation starters.

Since Then

Shay and I have become very acustomed to receiving $15 bills from APS. We still pay about $77 a month for the Solar City lease but other than that our lif style hasnt changed. We use the same amount of power but enjoy knowing its coming from the sun. The credit program through Solar City and APS has worked very well. We get a direct credit for what we over produce during the day, then at night we draw from the grid. So far the solar panels have covered all our electric costs each month.

Solar Production