My Solar Journey

User: bipulagarwal@yahoo.com

Vendor: Drive Green - Green Energy Consumers Alliance

Action: 3357 - Go Solar

I want to share a bit of my solar journey to encourage others to consider this option as well.

We had an existing A/C unit that worked quite well but generated higher electric bills every summer as it was not very efficient.  It was also limited to the upper floors and did not cover the critical first floor where we spend most of our time.  We also had two natural gas furnaces for heating.

I had considered solar panels in the past but not seriously as my roof is facing east / west and is not considered optimal for solar generation.  However, I was inspired by my neighbor to consider solar more earnestly as his roof has the same orientation and he had reported good results with his recent solar installation.

I used EnerySage to get quotes from multiple installers and also contacted a couple of local installers to get additional quotes.  I ended up choosing Great Sky Solar in Arlington due to their strong reviews, in-house installation and service teams, and reasonable prices. I chose to get twenty 400W panels which is expected to provide about 120% of prior year's usage.  I planned to simultaneously get two heat pumps to replace our aging A/C unit and to heat our home in the winter.  My expectation was that the excess solar power and the much more efficient cooling units would cover much of my winter heating usage.

I signed the solar agreement in October 2022.  National Grid approved the design in November 2022 and the town approved it in January 2023 after requesting a change.  The panels were installed in March 2023 and our solar system became operational in April 2023 with a starting net meter value of 0 from National Grid.

I simultaneously replaced our old A/C and one old natural gas furnace with 2 heat pumps to provide both heating and cooling for our home.  Our first floor did not have cooling earlier but now has a split unit to make summer days much more bearable.

Our meter reads less than 99000 after 4 months which means I have more than 1000KwH credit with National Grid.  I expect the credit to cover a good amount of the higher electric usage by the heat pumps in the winter.

I am very pleased with my solar installation and would like to encourage fellow Franklin residents to consider this option to go green and also save money in the long term.