Mark – Largo, Florida
As a co-op, the group purchase made us feel more comfortable about the chosen vendor.
Mark – Largo, FL
System size: 13.3 kW
Why did you decide to go solar?
The house we bought had 22 panels on it when we bought it. The homeowners owned the solar company that installed the system, used their home as a show home, and apparently never hooked up the panels to the grid. When we got a new roof, the roofer uninstalled the old system. The old owners offered to reinstall the panels for $5000, but would not guarantee they would work. After another scammy solar company that was recommended by the roofing company tried to get us to agree to a new system, but it did not seem to be advantageous for us to choose them, and I found Solar United Neighbors co-op.
Did anything surprise you about the process of going solar?
We were promised at least 85% offset from our 13.3 kW system (which we found required a $1MM insurance rider) that has, to the best of our knowledge, never provided over 10.2 kW and our offset over the entire time it’s been live is nowhere near the 85% they promised us. Our grid dependence is nearly 60%.
Why did you choose to go solar with Solar United Neighbors?
As a co-op, the group purchase made us feel more comfortable about the chosen vendor.
What benefits did you experience going solar with a co-op?
With a larger group, the price ended up being fair based on raw specs; we did feel that not being the only ones trying to find a decent solar installer in this environment was the wisest choice to not get ripped off.
Do you have any data about your solar system performance? What electricity savings have you seen since going solar?
Our grid dependence over the lifetime of this system is still 58% (42% of our usage is provided by the solar system) though we were promised an 85% offset based on our then-current usage.
What advice would you give to someone considering going solar?
Check the numbers being presented to you on what the offset will be and how much savings you can expect based on current usage.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m glad I participated in the Solar United Neighbors co-op, and while not totally happy with the outcome, I’m sure it turned out better than if I had tried to go it alone. Solar installers do not seem to be honest business persons by a long shot, and we could have done much worse.