Thank you for teaching me about community solar programs. Perhaps I'm unaware because I no longer own/rent a house (full-time nomad who successfully escaped the states last year). I am, however, a huge fan of solar energy, having lived off-grid on a boat for 4 years--we upgraded to full solar after our 1st year aboard for our "house" electricity and rarely worried about power. My brother outside of Dallas installed solar 3 years ago and no longer worries about the sketchiness of Texas' grid. Plus he often sells his surplus energy back to the grid. $$ Added bonus.
I am convinced that every house would be built with solar, if only electric companies could figure out a way to make a profit from it. Sometimes I hate capitalism. So it delights me that your brother is selling his solar power back into the grid.
So it turns out my energy company has a program! It looks like it might cost us a bit more--but as you note the math still checks out! Thanks for this post! Very inspiring! In case other readers are in Illinois or MO: https://www.ameren.com/service/renewables/community-solar?gad=1
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Boo on the company charging you more, but yay that it’s an option. Probably the best antidote to all the depressing climate news is just making as much of my own transition as I can. I’d rather the systems were changing, but I refuse to wait!
Good morning! We do have community solar programs in New Mexico! I think I’m going to advertise it at my school for the kids (I’m a social studies teacher, and the environment is certainly on my teaching standards) we are working on getting solar on our flat roof and I’m super excited about it. Even though we have to pay to get our roof replaced etc, it’s still going to save us money especially as the rates are going to increase AGAIN this summer.
Sorry about the roof. It’s such a hassle For months after getting our roof replaced, we found nails around our house, and our—then—small child started a rusty nail collection (AKA her tetanus collectables).
But it was a HUGE surprise to me that we still ended up saving money. Since we didn’t have a heat pump, our gas bill in the winter was quite high, and yet, overall we did really well with energy.
The next time I have a roof replace, I will ask the company ahead of time what their plan is for removing nails. They do have a plan, but our company just wasn't very good at it. They came out twice and still missed a lot. But I think asking ahead of time should put you in a better spot.
The other thing I wish I knew is that if you're having the roof replaced in the garage-- and there is nothing between the garage and the sky but roof--then you should cover anything you have in your garage with tarp to protect it from all the dust and wood shavings. It'll make clean up so much easier.
The last thing is, it really wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound. And bonus: our new roof was lighter and that kept our house cooler in the summer. A big win.
Thank you for teaching me about community solar programs. Perhaps I'm unaware because I no longer own/rent a house (full-time nomad who successfully escaped the states last year). I am, however, a huge fan of solar energy, having lived off-grid on a boat for 4 years--we upgraded to full solar after our 1st year aboard for our "house" electricity and rarely worried about power. My brother outside of Dallas installed solar 3 years ago and no longer worries about the sketchiness of Texas' grid. Plus he often sells his surplus energy back to the grid. $$ Added bonus.
I am convinced that every house would be built with solar, if only electric companies could figure out a way to make a profit from it. Sometimes I hate capitalism. So it delights me that your brother is selling his solar power back into the grid.
So it turns out my energy company has a program! It looks like it might cost us a bit more--but as you note the math still checks out! Thanks for this post! Very inspiring! In case other readers are in Illinois or MO: https://www.ameren.com/service/renewables/community-solar?gad=1
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Boo on the company charging you more, but yay that it’s an option. Probably the best antidote to all the depressing climate news is just making as much of my own transition as I can. I’d rather the systems were changing, but I refuse to wait!
Good morning! We do have community solar programs in New Mexico! I think I’m going to advertise it at my school for the kids (I’m a social studies teacher, and the environment is certainly on my teaching standards) we are working on getting solar on our flat roof and I’m super excited about it. Even though we have to pay to get our roof replaced etc, it’s still going to save us money especially as the rates are going to increase AGAIN this summer.
Sorry about the roof. It’s such a hassle For months after getting our roof replaced, we found nails around our house, and our—then—small child started a rusty nail collection (AKA her tetanus collectables).
But it was a HUGE surprise to me that we still ended up saving money. Since we didn’t have a heat pump, our gas bill in the winter was quite high, and yet, overall we did really well with energy.
Omg but thank you- I will definitely ask them these questions. Ugh the garage! 😂😂😂 thank you
Yikes I wasn’t even thinking about how not fun the actual process will be. Sigh. Oh well! It’s gotta be done. Onward!
The next time I have a roof replace, I will ask the company ahead of time what their plan is for removing nails. They do have a plan, but our company just wasn't very good at it. They came out twice and still missed a lot. But I think asking ahead of time should put you in a better spot.
The other thing I wish I knew is that if you're having the roof replaced in the garage-- and there is nothing between the garage and the sky but roof--then you should cover anything you have in your garage with tarp to protect it from all the dust and wood shavings. It'll make clean up so much easier.
The last thing is, it really wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound. And bonus: our new roof was lighter and that kept our house cooler in the summer. A big win.