Thought my neighbor's solar setup was a total scam until I saw the numbers

My neighbor put solar panels on his roof back in March 2021 and I was pretty skeptical. He kept telling me his electric bill dropped by like $80 a month but I figured he was just rounding things up. Then last week our power company sent out those rate increase letters saying a kwh is going up 15 cents. I asked to see his actual bills and he showed me 12 months of data. His average monthly bill went from $140 down to $45 even with running his AC all summer. I finally did the math and if those panels last 20 years he will save over $20,000 easy. That got me looking into community solar programs in Seattle where I live. Has anyone here tried one of those shared solar gardens instead of putting panels on your own roof?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona25d agoProlific Poster

The more I pay attention, the more I notice people tend to brush off things that save money over time because the upfront cost or idea sounds too good to be true. Your neighbor's situation is a perfect example of how a little skepticism can cost you thousands if you don't actually look at the real numbers. It makes me wonder how many other everyday things we ignore because they sound like a gimmick but are actually solid.

henry10125d ago

Yeah I feel that. 'Too good to be true' is like the default setting for half the people I know. My dad literally ignored a rebate from his power company for years because he thought it was a scam. It was just a free energy audit and some LED bulbs. He finally did it last year and his bill dropped like $30 a month. Now he won't shut up about it. But yeah, I think we all have those blind spots where we just assume anything that saves money long term has a catch.