Northwood News ♦ June 2012

Clean Energy in the ’Hood:  Solar Power is in Reach

By Jeremy D. Birch

Interested in solar power for your home but intimidated by the price or the hassle of paperwork?  My neighbors Ben Cash and Jo Ann Kester and my wife Lisa and I were, but in June 2011 we heard about Google funding California-based SolarCity with $280 million to finance residential solar projects, including lease options.  (In January 2011, SolarCity acquired Clean Currents Solar, making Silver Spring their first location on the east coast.)

A few days later, we each completed a free online assessment for a custom solar proposal.  The detailed proposal, which was ready within a week, spelled out three different leasing opportunities (no money down, low money down, and pre-pay), as well as the option to purchase the system outright.  If you elect to go with a lease option, there is a monthly fee paid to SolarCity in addition to a small payment to Pepco each month, but these combined will generally be lower than you currently pay to Pepco alone.

The next step was an engineering site audit, which involved measuring the roof’s dimensions, assessing its structural integrity, and determining its orientation to the sun in the morning and afternoon; evaluating the main electrical panel; and locating any shading issues.

Since we live next door to each other (803 and 805 Malta Lane), we were able to schedule both of our site audits and, later, the installation to take place on the same days.  SolarCity was very easy to work with in terms of concurrent scheduling for the various aspects of the process.  Plus, they handled all of the paperwork for the Federal and State incentives and tax credits, the correspondence with Pepco, and the permits for the installation.  They also arranged all of the various inspections, etc.

The designs for our 4.6-kilowatt photovoltaic array systems were completed in November.  We both have 20 panels; all of Lisa’s and mine are on situated on the east-southeast-facing roof, while Ben and Jo Ann’s are split, with half facing east and half west.

The county and Pepco approved the designs in December, and installation was in January.  Once the installations were inspected and approved by the County and Pepco, Ben and Jo Ann activated their system on January 31 and we flipped the switch on February 13.

The only up-front cost my family incurred was to have two trees removed, one of which was dying and needed to come down anyway.  Removing the other tree, begrudgingly done because it would have blocked the morning sun, resulted in a 30 percent increase in production for our system.

SolarCity includes a performance guarantee based on its calculations:  if the system doesn’t meet the goals, they will pay the difference.  They continuously monitor the system and will respond if performance declines.  They will also take care of any necessary repairs.

When Pepco workers came to inspect the system, they installed a new, “smart” electric meter that is capable of going backward, necessary for when the panels generate more power than is used; this was actually a second new “smart” meter as the previous meter installed only a couple of weeks prior was incapable of going backwards.  It’s very gratifying to see the electric meter wind backwards past zero, thus sticking it to Pepco a bit.  Since activation, both systems have generated more power than we’ve needed, resulting in the only monies paid to Pepco equaling around $7.32/mo., which is only for the distribution of power when the system isn’t generating.

Since turning the panels on, our system has generated 1,746 kWh and theirs has generated 1,741 kWh (as of May 16); our somewhat more southern exposure has resulted in a slightly higher level of production, but that difference has diminished as the sun has risen higher in the sky with the approach of the summer solstice.  The most productive day of our systems thus far was Friday, 11 May, with 31.72 kWh for ours and 30.04 kWh for theirs.  The average power used is between 12–16 kWh a day.

A cool tool that SolarCity has is called SolarGuard, which allows us to view the system’s production throughout the day, month, week, and year.  It also calculates our lifetime environmental benefits.  Updated every 15 minutes, the information is transmitted wirelessly and can be viewed online.  Much to the amusement of our wives, Ben and I are obsessed with checking the progress of our systems, especially on really sunny days.

We are all happy to talk about our systems in more detail.  If you see us outside, stop by and say hello.  If there’s interest from a number of folks in the neighborhood, we can set up a “solar party” with a representative from SolarCity.   ■