Solar Questions Answered by Bruce & Nancy Char of Wayne, PA:

Why are you doing solar? 
We believe that having more varied and local sources of clean energy will make the country better off. As opposed to energy conservation from getting a hybrid auto or installing better insulation in your house, this is increasing the amount of energy from domestic sources available. However, we aren't doing it entirely for altruistic reasons. We think we will recoup our costs of construction in about five to seven years, in the current economic and regulatory climate.

How much power do you generate?
We've been measuring the power output on a daily basis for the past month, and can report that an average daily power output in the summer is about 25 kilowatt hours (AC power). PECO charges about $0.15/kWh. So 30 days' worth of electricity in the summer at 25 kWh/day works out to .15x30x25=$112.50 off of my electricity bill.

How did you pick your solar contractor?

We looked on the Internet to get our start. We got a partial education just from reading information at the many sites that a web search engine will uncover (here is a good one to start with from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory). We found it easier to talk to prospective contractors after getting some background and reading about actual installations. As with all home improvement contractring, you want to assess experience, responsiveness to your needs, the experience of past customers, get multiple quotes, etc.

Strangely enough, it was an old-fashioned newspaper ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer that first connected us to groSolar, the solar contractor we eventually went with.

How much did the system cost to install?

Think "Acura SUV". However, the grants and rebates discussed below cover a significant part of the total cost, so it's like buying an Acura at a 50% off sale. Most solar installers will be able to tell you about ways to finance a system without having to write a Cadillac-sized check up front. SunRun solar financing is currently being offered in Pennsylvania.

What are the economics of your solar system?

After you build the system, you can get:

a) A Pennsylvania Sunshine Grant. This is not the same as the Pennsylvania tax rebate for solar energy systems.

b) A Federal tax rebate for 30% of the cost of the system.

c) Net Metering - this is the "meter running backwards" phenomenon that you may have heard about. I get full credit for all the power I generate, even if I don't use it all when it's being generated. My surplus power flows out onto the grid, where presumably my neighbors use it. I can use that amount of power at a later time (such as the nighttime or the winter) at no cost.

PECO isn't agreeing to swap power like this just because of regulatory requirements. It gets something out of it too, because it gets my surplus power when it needs it most - in the middle of hot summer days when its generating capacity and the long distance transmission grid are pushed to their limits.

I don't actually have a meter turning backwards. PECO installs two meters, one measuring power coming out, and one measuring power going in. They charge me (or credit me if there is an overall surplus) for the difference. You will see the net effect of this in your electric bills. 

d) SAECs (Solar Alternative Energy Certificates), sometimes called SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates). What these are is a long story but to cut to the chase, you are awarded one of these "certificates" for each 1000 kWh of solar power that you produce. You can sell the certificate to the utilities (who are required by the state to produce a certain percentage of power from solar) for a merket determined price. Checks will arrive in the mail. Right now, SRECs are an even bigger economic factor than the savings in the power bill.

e) Investing in a solar system is claimed by some to add $20 to the value of a home for each $1 of yearly savings in the power bill. Of course, you won't realize that until you sell the house or tap into home equity.

What is the lifetime of the system?

Solar panels will last for at least 25 years. Solar panels do degrade in their generation capacities overtime, but only a percent or so per year.

What happens when the power goes out on the grid?

The system only supplies power to the house when the grid is on. So if a falling tree cuts the line to my house, I get no power even if my panels are generating electricity. I'd need a battery system in my basement to power my house from solar alone. That would add to the cost and only would benefit me when the grid fails. It would be nice to think that I could be the only house in the neighborhood with power the day after an ice storm, but that isn't what will happen.

What is the bottom line?

Relatively clean energy, produced locally and independently. I expect that our costs of construction will be covered in about seven years by the power savings and the SAECs.