Monthly General Meeting - 4/6/2023 - Residential Solar

 At the start of the meeting, Kippy announced the nominating committee:

Nominating Committee Vote in – The following were voted in by the board members in attendance:

  • Patricia Wolfran
  •  Karen Barnert
  • Randy Harkness
Then, we moved to the main topic, Residential Solar.

Summary:  If you've ever been curious about solar for your residence... come learn about the process of going solar, the equipment, financial incentives that can reduce costs by up to 40% and how to select a solar installer. Get information and ask questions without getting a pressured sales pitch.

Presenters:

Puget Sound Solar provided this presentation with 2 of their staff:

  • Stu Frothingham:  Communications Director
  • Jason Askew:  Residential Sales & Design Consultant

Notes:

·        ·        Residential Solar:  Stu Frothingham and Jason Askew

§  Stu has built panels from scratch as well as install

o   Puget Sound Solar Company

§  EV charging stations as well as solar

§  Full support service department

o   4.1% increase in home value if you have solar per Zillow studies

o   Incentives

§  Inflation Reduction Act:  30% fed tax credit

§  WA State: 

·        No sales tax

·        Net Meeting – get paid to push to the grid

o   How do you get paid for solar?

§  Direct payment from Power companies is no longer

§  Net Meeting – 4/1 to 3/31

·        Solar first powers your house

·        Extra energy will be exported to the grid

·        For Puget Sound Energy:

o   Net Metering acct is setup

o   Acct enables you to use any credit built up in your acct for use in non-summer months

·        Start over at zero in your acct on 3/31.  So, Net Meeting is meant to offset your use in the Winter only.  No pay out.

·        Offsets increases in electric bills

o   Solar actually prefers cool days although cloudy days don’t procude as well

o   Solar Panels:

§  Typically get 25 years out of your solar panels

§  Solar panels are very recyclable

§  Cost has decreased by ~90% in the last 12 years

§  Panels have more sleek aesthetic look these days

o   Solar Monitoring

§  Panels have an inverter which enables web app for checking system performance

§  Enables ability to find faults in panels too

§  Puget Sound Solar’s service dept will monitor your system for you

o   Batteries

§  Mostly not needed as outages are not usual

§  Might want this for critical medical devices

§  Could run your car off your EV

o   Solar Design

§  Based on historical usage

§  Site/environment considerations

·        Metal roofs are easy

·        Want to install on newer roofs

·        Recommends Blue and Blue roofing

·        Use a lidar database to draw the environment

·        Produces a Sample Shade Report

·        EV can double the electrical need from the solar panels

§  Quote:  Should give you options with details

·        Be wary of single option quotes

§  If using financing for your solar install, it will start paying off after ~5 or 6 years

§  Select a solar installer:

·        Multiple quotes

·        How long in business

·        Specialize in solar

·        NABCEP Certified

·        Member of WASEIA

·        Members of Solar Washington

·        Check SolarReviews, EnergySage

·        Seattle solar homeowners facebook

·        BBB.org

·        No high pressure sales

§  Myth:  solar panels include toxic chemicals/metals

·        False

·        This was an issue years ago, but no longer with current solar polars

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