I’d been jonesing for a solar powered home since the only
option was to buy solar panels. They were so expensive that money saved using
them wasn’t assured to cover the cost of the panels and their instillation for 10
or more years. Creating a smaller carbon footprint is now more viable.
Hubby and I are renting the solar panels on our roof because
we know nothing about maintaining them or storing the energy they produce. I
had heard positives about Trinity Solar, so we went with them. The following is
an honest description of our experience. I’ve included our PSE&G bills from
the year before we incorporated solar energy, this year’s PSE&G bills, and
our IGS Solar bills. You may check my math.
The Trinity salesperson frazzled us by showing up a day before
our appointment time. During his spiel, if he mentioned we’d receive a bill
from PSE&G, and a bill from IGS Solar, we may have paused with more
questions. IGS owns the panels and receives tax credits on the panels’
harvesting of solar energy.
The salesperson mentioned a $500.00 start-up bonus. We
understood this as compensation for Trinity needing someone home for days to
allow access to our attic and basement before, during, and after the panels’
installation. However, we failed to get the bonus agreement in writing. So, no
bonus for us.
We have pictures of the installers from Trinity on our roof with
a large water jug perched on our chimney’s lining. When the installers left, I
found bricks from or chimney thrown in our yard with wet putty slathered on
them. Trinity never told us they had knocked loose the bricks or that they had
tried to repair them. Trinity denied doing damage to the chimney. However, our pictures
show the chimney intact with the water jug atop the chimney.
Our solar panels collect kilowatts of energy. IGS Solar
charges us for those kilowatts. Since the panels were installed in the summer, our
first IGS bill was $178.05. This shocked us. We don’t have central air
conditioning, so our summer PSE&G bills before the solar panel installation
were much lower than winter bills (we have electric heat). We weren’t prepared
for such a large bill during a summer month. Our winter bills are now lower,
but that unexpected initial IGS bill along with our PSE&G bill was a
hardship.
PSE&G 2018 to 2019 PSE&G
2019 to 2020 IGS Solar 2019 to 2020
8/25/18 to 9/25/18 = $97.82 8/23/19
to 9/25/19 = $132.20 9/1/19
to 9/30/19 = $178.05
9/26/18 to 10/24/18 = 171.05 9/26/19 to 10/24/19 = 23.90 10/1/19 to 10/31/19 = 93.82
10/25/18 to 11/26/18 = 582.52 10/25/19 to 11/22/19 =
167.78 11/1/19 to 11/30/19 =
80.08
11/27/18 to 12/26/18 = 684.23 11/23/19 to 12/26/19 =
666.68 12/1/19 to 12/31/19 = 53.45
12/27/18 to 1/26/19 = 782.72 12/27/19 to 1/27/20 = 550.24 1/1/20 to 1/31/20 = 66.69
1/27/19 to 2/26/19 = 816.88 1/28/20 to 2/26/20 = 504.36 2/1/20 to 2/29/20 = 82.91
2/27/19 to 3/27/19 = 599.50 2/27/20 to 3/26/20 = 354.79 3/1/20
to 3/31/20 = 123.85
3/28/19 to 4/26/19 = 331.02 3/27/20 to 4/27/20 = 249.34 4/1/20 to 4/30/20 = 152.96
4/27/19 to 5/29/19 = 192.06 4/28/20 to 5/27/20 = 23.09 5/1/20 to 5/31/20 = 189.10
5/29/19 to 6/26/19 = 67.90 5/28/20 to 6/25/20 = 21.37 6/1/20 to 6/30/20 = 206.42
6/27/19 to 7/26/19 = 132.33 6/26/20 to 7/27/20 = 42.02 7/1/20 to 7/31/20 = 197.72
7/27/19 to 8/22/19 = 102.42 7/28/20 to 8/25/20 = -33.34 8/1/20 to 8/31/20 = 159.25
$4560.45 - 483.32 (gas) = $2702.43 $1584.3
$4286.73 - $402.89 (gas) = $3883.84
$4077.13 - $3883.84 = $193.29
As show above, subtracting what we paid PSE&G and IGS
this year from what we paid PSE&G last year, minus gas, we saved $193.29. It’s disappointing
that we didn’t save more, which is what the salesperson led us to believe would
happen. But, we did save some money, if you don’t count the repair work we need
done to our chimney. The biggest bonus, which was really our main goal, is that
we are conserving resources and helping the environment.
Please leave any questions in the comments section below. If
you chose to go with Trinity and let them know I mentioned their company to
you, hubby and I may receive $500.00. That will cover almost half the repairs to
our chimney.
I wish you clean energy and good health.