Solar Providers

[subzali]

We had SolarCity (now Tesla) on our old house.

Our new house does not have solar, but our bill has gone way up after XCEL “gave us a way to save on our electric bill” by installing a smart meter. It’s almost double compared to same month last year. And just got a notice that electricity costs between 3 and 7 pm on weekdays will be billed at a higher rate than at other times. Again “ways to save costs.”

I’m guessing it’s going to kill us this summer, cause guess what time of day the AC runs?

Anyway, going to start looking at solar options. Is Tesla still a go? I’ve seen some others on here. Looking for a zero out of pocket, pay by the month over 20 years type deal, if those are still around.

 

[gungriffin]

I would recommend at least giving Sun Run a call. I had a guy out by the name of Steve Wilson. He was very knowledgeable and forthright. His cell is 407-669-6575. Sun Run was offering a 20 year 2.99% option a few months ago. I ultimately decided to do a self install as it was so much cheaper. It is still a work in progress though.

FYI, you are allowed to opt out of the TOU option. Xcel will charge you a few bucks extra a month for doing so, but it is worth it for anyone who works from home or isn't gone for a normal 9-5 M-F.

 

[Yeti]

I liked using https://www.energysage.com/ to gather quotes. It was very easy and I didn't have to talk to anyone. I had 8 different quotes in a few days. After I knew exactly what I wanted I requested new quotes for the exact specs to really compare. I ended up going with https://www.sunbeam-energy.com/. I also would have been happy to go with https://www.namastesolar.com/ they were very helpful and knowledgeable. Only reason I didn't go with namaste is they had a long lead time. FYI Xcel has been really slow to approve new installs. My application was submitted in early Nov and it was finally reviewed this week. In Nov I got financing for 15 years at 1.49%. I'd recommend asking for the cash price too so you can see how much the hidden finance charges are.

 

[gungriffin]

FYI Xcel has been really slow to approve new installs. My application was submitted in early Nov and it was finally reviewed this week.

Isn't that crazy??? Steve told me that in October, Sun Run was finding that it was an average of about 7 months from signing the contract to connecting with Xcel. Between permits and Xcel things are rough right now. He also said that Winter was the best time to apply for permits. Much fewer people apply for them in the off production season.

 

[RayRay27]

@subzali I have Sunrun and they actually did a great job with the install. No issues at all so far after two years. I looked into Solar City several years ago and good grief were they the worst so I was really hesitant about getting solar. When I talked with my Sunrun rep he was really up front with everything and wasn't trying to push anything on me that I didn't want. I wanted to purchase my system outright, not lease and they were totally fine with that. My rep also actually told me that the best solar company here locally is Namaste up in Boulder https://www.namastesolar.com/. The reason I chose Sunrun was because of the install time frame. They were able to do it in about 3 months as opposed to Namaste who has like a eight month wait list.

 

[nakman]

Yeah, I feel I started my process around this time of year, and it was Christmas by the time I actually had solar. You may miss this summer Matt, the way things are going. Project Solar here, https://projectsolar.com/

 

[Romer]

I went with Namaste. Very satisfied

 

[satchel]

I used a local company called Photon Brothers and am also very satisfied. The provide a lot of data to dig into the numbers as well.

 

[Shark Bait]

Photon Brothers is finishing my install today. It's been 9 months since we started the process. Some of that was delays in permitting.

 

[subzali]

Someone informed me I can opt out of this:

"And just got a notice that electricity costs between 3 and 7 pm on weekdays will be billed at a higher rate than at other times. Again “ways to save costs.”"

So I called XCEL and opted out of that garbage. So solar is on the back burner for me at this time. I imagine I will do it again someday though; I really didn't mind having it at all.

 

[gungriffin]

Someone informed me I can opt out of this:

"And just got a notice that electricity costs between 3 and 7 pm on weekdays will be billed at a higher rate than at other times. Again “ways to save costs.”"

So I called XCEL and opted out of that garbage. So solar is on the back burner for me at this time. I imagine I will do it again someday though; I really didn't mind having it at all.

You can opt out at anytime. To anyone considering it though, it is a one time $46 fee to revert back to a normal meter. It is also a ~$11 a month additional fee to "read" the meter from now on. I find this quite frustrating.

 

[subzali]

You can opt out at anytime. To anyone considering it though, it is a one time $46 fee to revert back to a normal meter. It is also a ~$11 a month additional fee to "read" the meter from now on. I find this quite frustrating.

More ways to “save you money”

I work from home and my family home schools so we are not “not around” from 12-7pm where this thing from xcel could possibly work to our advantage to “save us money”