Prior to this winter, I had almost 2,000 Kilowatt hours in excess and with our winter sun low in the sky I have been using that supply to make up the difference on my electric bills. By the time winter ended, I had about 840 Kilowatt hours still left over. At the end of my billing year, I am issued a credit for the remaining kW I did not use. So the ten to fourteen dollars that I pay each month on my utility bill for taxes and fees will now be wiped out by my 840 kW credit over the next few months.
I also had a fast Three year and Eight month Return on my investment and that was possible by making an energy efficient house. The actions I have taken to live a more sustainable life and have a very energy efficient house took about 12 years prior to the implementation of the solar system. Nevertheless, these energy efficient actions taken are NOT rocket science. Throughout my GTG blog posts you can read about these actions.
The second reason for the fast payback is due to my research and evaluation of many Solar companies. (Several of the companies that I did not go with are now out of business or their suppliers have bowed out.) Product performance was also key: knowing where the products were manufactured, who installed what components and comparing the costs between Lease programs or buying.
Bill Lauto, at GoingTrueGreen.com
Environmental Scientist
International Sustainability and Energy Consultant
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