If you’re considering switching energy use to solar power, there are a few great options available. You can select a home solar system, in which solar panels are installed on the roof of your home or ground-mount them somewhere on your property. Or you may be able to choose to subscribe to a community solar garden, which is a collection of solar arrays located in a sunny area in your county or a neighboring county that allows contract-holders to receive utility bill credit for energy generated.
4 easy steps to installing a home system
If you want to get started with home solar, you can accomplish that goal in just four
easy steps.
- Learn more. Conduct some research about solar panel installation companies in your area. Ask friends, relatives and co-workers for their word-of-mouth recommendations. Check out online reviews and BBB ratings. Then, choose two or three candidates to make a visit to your home, offer recommendations, and present you with a bid.
- Choose a vendor. Review the bids you’ve received and make a decision about the installer who offers the best combination of value, reputation, and proven expertise
- Installation. A good installer will let you know the earliest open dates on the installation calendar, and will also offer an estimate of how many hours it will take to complete the installation.
- Begin to generate free, clean energy for your home. With home solar you’ll be able to sell the excess energy your solar panels produce back to your utility company, all while generating electricity for your own home!
5 easy steps to using energy from a community solar garden
- Find out what options are available to you. If you’re unable to do home solar, you still might be able to benefit from solar energy through CSGs.
- Learn more. Conduct initial research into available CSGs in your area. Your local utility company is a good place to start.
- Subscribe to a community solar garden. Many utilities allow you to subscribe to enough solar to cover up to 120 percent of your annual electricity usage.
- Receive utility bill credit. The credit will show up for the share of electricity produced by your CSG.
- Pay the CSG. Each month, you’ll pay for the agreed-upon amount for which you are contracted.
Download our eBook, Home vs. Community Solar, to learn more about the major differences between owning your own solar panel system and joining a community solar garden—and which option is right for you!
