The first step in “going solar” is to set up a consultation with a solar professional. But what should you expect? What should you ask? How is this going to go?
If and when you decide that it makes sense to take a deeper look into solar, here are a few things that a solar consultant would be looking at to determine the size and type of system you’ll need:
- How much energy your home needs on an annual basis to operate properly. Your utility company will provide your solar rep with a 12-month history of your usage in kilowatt hours, along with your actual bill for each month. Both of these are important. The kilowatt hour usage will drive the design of the system and the actual bill is important for comparison to your new solar bill. After all, you want to know how much going solar will save you over time.
- It’s important to discuss what changes in your power needs may be in the near future. For example, are you planning on buying an electric car? Do you have older children that will be out of the nest soon? These factors also play a part in the design of your system.
- How long do you plan to live in your current home? There are solar programs that benefit those that know they will be selling soon, just as there are programs that benefit long time owners.
- The seasoned solar professionals at Aurora Energy will also broach the subject of your credit score. This can be a bit uncomfortable, but there are solar lenders that can accommodate many credit score ranges. Sharing this information with your solar rep can help him or her choose the best lending options, and specifically one that you’ll likely qualify for. We don’t want to run your credit willy nilly hoping that some lender will say yes. This is an important part of the process.
- But most of all, you should expect that your solar consultant takes ample time to educate you, the customer, about all the options available and how the federal tax credit works. Solar has become more and more common, and that’s partly because the industry wanted to make the customer agreements easy to say “yes” to. While fairly simple and straightforward, it’s still absolutely critical that the rep take the time to cover every base.
Becoming educated about solar makes a lot of sense these days. Whether you’re ready or not to make the switch, odds are that it will happen one day. Any of the solar professionals at Aurora Energy would be happy to spend up to an hour with you strictly for the purpose of educating you about solar. No sales pitches. I promise!
