Basking in the sun and a smaller power bill

by Michela Perrone

We live on 30th Street between Albemarle and Brandywine. And although there are a lot of trees in our neighborhood, our backyard is relatively open to the sun. So in April of this year, we responded to DC SUN, a local organization that promotes residential adoption of solar energy, and its call to contact Solar Solution about installing solar panels on our roof.

Solar Solution installed solar systems on several homes along this block of Longfellow Street NW.

Solar Solution evaluated our property, explained what we could do and how quickly we could be up and running with a new solar system. We realized right away that this would be a win-win for us, the environment, and for Solar Solution. We worked with Jaime Salazar at Solar Solution, which handled all of the paper work with Pepco and the installation of a new electric meter. In early May, 32 solar panels providing 9.5 KW of power were installed in two days and began operating shortly thereafter.

The cost for the entire system was $26,584.66. The net cost for us will be approximately $5,000.

Solar panels on two more of Solar Solution’s projects in DC. (photo provided by Solar Solution)

We received $11,000 credit from Solar Solutions since we decided to sell them our Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC). We will get approximately $10,000 in federal tax rebate in 2015. We were disappointed that the District government has terminated its subsidy program, otherwise we would have received (according to Solar Solution) approximately $4,000 in rebates from DC.

Even so, the savings will be tremendous. Last year, our June power bill was $185.59. Our first adjusted bill from Pepco, for June 2014, totaled $27.90. If we continue at this rate, we will recoup our investment in two and a half years, and will continue to save for many years to come.

The energy that still comes from Pepco is generated by WGES, and it is all wind-generated energy. So between the wind and the sun, our carbon emission is ZERO. We are pleased to be able to participate even in a small way in saving our planet!

Editor’s note: In addition to 30th, Solar Solution has moved onto 3500 block of Yuma. As of Thursday, July 24th, it was working on one installation and had completed another.