Dark days of Winter? A CullenCollimore solar update!
The shortest days of the year seem a funny time to be thinking about solar power, but we like to think of it as the start of our long power surge. For the next six months, each day will bring us a little more sunlight, and we’ll be watching the meter spin back into positive territory.
We installed a solar array in July, 2017, seeking to reduce our carbon footprint and – we hoped – save money at the same time. Working with ReVision Energy, we designed a 9.6 KW system based on our electric use over the prior twelve months, with the goal of supplying all of our electrical needs going forward. That meant putting 30 panels on the various roofs of our century-old building near the Courthouse. Happily, we knew that even here in New Hampshire, there was plenty of sunshine to accomplish this goal.
How It Works
Installing solar is not complicated (says the lawyer who did none of the work). Basically you have two options: a stand-alone system that stores power to batteries for future use (off grid) or a system that sends power back to the power company when the system is producing more power than you need, and draws from the system when (as on the winter solstice) you use more than you produce. In essence, the latter set up essentially treats the grid as your battery backup or, perhaps a better analogy, like an energy bank with a free line of credit. Through the summer we run ahead, depositing electricity into the system for future use. In the winter, we draw down our balance and go negative for a while until the longer days of March tip the scales back in our favor. This is known as “net metering.” For a business like ours, we had no need to be off grid and a great need for the security of being tied to the grid on cloudy days, so, net metering was the way to go.
The Math
The cost of the array was not insignificant, but thanks to state and federal credits, it quickly proved to be an excellent investment. The upfront cost – including installation and work needed to change over our meter to track electricity going to and from the grid – was $30,674. However, we then received an $8,290 federal tax credit and a $3,040 state rebate, reducing our outlay to just $19,344. We also receive approximately $250 a year by selling Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). As a commercial property, there are also additional benefits from depreciation. Finally, to encourage such installations, the City of Nashua offsets our property value. We used to spend approximately $250 a month ($3,000 per year) on electricity. Thus, we are looking at about a six year return of investment factoring in the RECs (exclusive of depreciation). Lawyer Disclaimer: tax and rebates may vary year to year and state to state, so always check current incentives before committing to your project.
The Production
Nearly eighteen months in, the system has proven to be a huge success. As expected, we run up a solar surplus through the summer, easily exceeding our daily usage. By the summer solstice, we regularly produce more than 20kw in excess of our needs. The turn begins around the fall equinox and the meters start to reverse, eating into our surplus until March, when we regain our losses and more. Over the past year, we produced 297kw more than we used. We haven’t paid an electric bill since June, 2017!
Extra Perks
There is little gained financially by producing more electricity than you use, but neither should we randomly leave lights on just to use it up. Recognizing our surplus production, in the spring of 2019 we installed an electric car charger (well, the excellent Johnson’s Electric did it for us). This allows us to use some surplus production to essentially get a free electric fill for any electric vehicle.
Interested in learning more? Feel free to contact us here anytime, or swing by, plug in, and we’ll treat you to a coffee and show you the system. The Keurig runs on solar.
