by Nic Baker
Many Sierra Club members are interested in solar power for obvious environmental reasons. For some of us, however, it’s simply not an option. If you live in an apartment, it is, of course, impossible. Similarly, I live in a townhouse project in which I technically don’t own the roof. Other reasons include not enough sunlight and financial considerations.
So what can we do?
One option is a community solar garden. These are vast arrays of solar panels located in areas that have been selected because of their perfect location for harvesting solar power. These gardens provide solar power to Xcel to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
An individual can “invest” in a community solar garden, contributing to the use of solar energy.
How does it work?
The company provides power directly to the power company. The member of the garden receives credits on the power bill.
A pleasant surprise: I was willing to pay extra on my power bill to help protect the environment. Instead, I discovered that in fact we pay less, the savings depending, of course, on power usage. In my case, the savings is estimated to be about $9/month. Whoopee! But the savings is a small additional benefit to participating. We can do good and even save a little money in the process.
There is a subscription cost. However, the indicated savings are after that cost, so we’re still ahead.
Now it gets confusing: There are multiple companies offering this kind of program. In speaking with people much more knowledgeable than I, I decided to go with US Solar.
I started, logically enough, by going to their web site: https://www.us-solar.com/. In addition to the benefits of using solar power, the company’s mode centers around environmental issues: They install all wiring below ground and contract with local small businesses to turn their solar fields pollinator-friendly.
While the process for signing up was straightforward, I had some trouble with the site and it took me a while to get signed up. For example, you have to provide information on your power-company account so the solar company can get usage data (be sure to have your account number handy.) I attribute my difficulty as probably being user error. Actually, US Solar does most of the work.
By the way, there are no up-front costs! However, you must have a credit score of 680 or higher to participate.
One thing I don’t like: You must sign a contract for 25 years. That’s a long time! Particularly, being an old guy, I recognize that I am likely to expire before the contract does. There are provisions to transfer the contract to your new residence if you move elsewhere in their service area; you can cancel the contract if you move elsewhere.
Nevertheless, I have signed up for the program. I will write a follow-up blog once I have experience with the program. I am truly excited to have found a way that makes it possible to protect the environment even though I can’t install solar panels where I live. I’m so glad I found them!