Home Solar Scams and Red Flags

Home Solar Scams and Red Flags
Check out this recent article. "Scammers, fraudsters, and jerks peddling misleading information are everywhere. Unfortunately, they are also in the solar industry. We'll make sure you can see the red flags, and empower you to make smart decisions about solar for your home."

Solar United Neighbors of Texas

Wow – It’s hard to believe that it has been over 5 years since we did our Solarize Plano Projects! And now we would like to let you know that “group” purchase programs can happen again in Plano with Solar UnitedNeighbors of Texas.

When organizing our “solarize” group purchase projects back in 2013 and 2014, our volunteers reached out to other volunteer groups across the country to get ideas and learn from their experiences. One of those groups at the time was called Community Power Network. We spoke with their founders and learned a lot about their experiences – what worked well and potential problem areas. Since that time, that volunteer group has expanded into a national non-profit called Solar United Neighbors, spreading solar ownership opportunity through hundreds of group purchase projects across many states. We called our group purchase projects “solarize” projects, they call their group purchase projects “solar co-ops”. They are the same!

We would like to encourage residents interested in participating in a group project to purchase installed solar to reach out to this organization to request a solar co-op project here in Plano. To do this, send an email with the subject “Please start a solar co-op in Plano” and include your name and contact information in the email to info@solarunitedneighbors.org 

To learn more about Solar United Neighbors, check out this recent Freeing Energy podcast titled, Episode #117 Anya Schoolman: Can wechange the future of energy one neighborhood at a time?

Reference Material for Educational Groups

Below are links to production monitoring websites for three of four of Plano's city installed systems.

• Fire Logistics Warehouse (10.34KWdc) - Power production and energy for City of Plano Fire Logistics Warehouse
• Oak Point Rec Center (9.4 KWdc) - Power production and energy for City of Plano Oak Point Rec Center
• Tom Muehlenbeck Center (9.635KWdc) - Power production and energy for City of Plano Tom Muehlenbeck Center

Check out the Solar Schools Campaign Toolkit for a step-by-step guide to help your school go solar!

Check out the Solar Market Insight Report 2018 Year in Review to learn about the solar industry in the US.

Also, here is link to a brief overview of Solar Energy provided by Plano Solar Advocates - 2019-03 Plano Solar Advocates

Solar innovation is still very strong

Check out this recent article titled, "Why PV Costs Have Fallen So Far - and Will Fall Further"

Why solar is likely to power the Home of the Future

"Very few places had air conditioners when the technology first became available, and now it’s rare to find a builder who would create a new home without it." Solar is growing cheaper and more popular each year! Check out this recent article!

Why solar is likely to power the Home of the Future

Can Solar Panels be Recycled?

"According to a publication by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), more than 90 percent of the materials in typical photovoltaic solar panels — silicon, aluminum and glass — can be recycled and used again in the production of new solar panels." Check out this great article on the subject!

Sunsetting solar panels: U.S. photovoltaic cell recycling incentives are beginning

Cost Savings for New Homes - include a Solar PV System

Here is an interesting analysis of California's new code requirement to include solar PV systems on new home builds. "Jim Lazar [of the Regulatory Assistance Project] takes a closer look and finds that Californians’ energy bills are relatively low—not in spite of such policies, but because of them." Maybe its time for Texas to do the same. What do you think?

California’s Mandatory PV Code Amendment: Is It Really Time for This?