Community Corner
Winchester Residents Weigh Solar Energy Options
Dozens of Winchester homeowners learned about options for solar panel systems, which qualify for multiple state and federal rebates, at a talk last night at the library.
The talk was all about solar at the Thursday night. Sunlight Solar of Newton presented a slide show on how Winchester residents can install solar panels to generate electricity and hot water. Cool Winchester, an offshoot of Sustainable Winchester, sponsored the event.
Chris Robinson, a system designer for Sunlight Solar, presented a slide show on the various solar options and discussed installation costs. Currently, there are several state and federal rebates available for solar panel systems, in addition to tax credits. With rebates and credits, homeowners can often save 50 percent or more on the cost of installing a solar panel system.
Robinson said most solar systems pay for themselves within five to seven years and reduce traditional energy usage by 50 to 80 percent. In addition, homes with solar systems have bidirectional electric meters. At times of low energy usage and strong sunlight, those electric meters actually spin backward. Customers can then sell back their excess solar energy through a system called solar renewable energy credits (SRECs).
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One example installation shown in the slideshow included a couple from Wareham who installed a 3.2 kW solar panel system with an initial cost around $26,000. After rebates, their final cost was $12,527. Their annual electricity savings was $779, and their annual SREC income was a minimum of $1,109. Their system would pay for itself within six years; after that, they would continue saving on their electric bill and generating SREC income.
Other systems were less costly, some coming in around $6,000 after rebates, and again paying for themselves within six to seven years. Every house is different, and the panel configurations change for each specific house.
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About 20 people gathered at the library to hear the solar energy talk, and many asked specific questions about installation, SRECs, and maintenance. One of the newer technologies generating interest among the audience was combination solar panels offering the additional benefit of solar hot water heating. Robinson said a solar hot water system usually covers 60-80% [ercent of hot water needs over the course of a year, from about 50 percent in the winter to 100% percent in the summer.
Sunlight Solar offers a free site evaluation. About a week after the site evaluation, the customer receives a specific system proposal for their home and details on available rebates and tax credits. Solar systems are in high demand, and Sunlight Solar is currently booking installation work for September. However, the company is in the process of hiring more staff to shorten lead times, according to Amy Levine, Sunlight Solar’s Massachusetts Director of PR and Marketing.
Installation of a solar panel system takes four to five days, weather permitting. After that, it may take one to two weeks to get a bidirectional meter installed and square things away with the utility company. Each solar system comes with an electronic monitor that allows customers to track usage and sell back energy credits.
This was the first talk in Cool Winchester’s spring lecture series. Other Cool Winchester projects include EcoTeams, in which local homeowners get together in groups and take action to reduce carbon footprints, and free home energy audits provided by Next Step Living. To find out more, contact Cool Winchester.
Cool Winchester’s next event will be a at the library on March 8.
