This post is inspired by a recent visit to our office by a couple of gentlemen suggesting we promote leasing options to prospective solar customers.

There is a federal tax credit for homeowners who choose clean renewable energy upgrades for their home, like solar. It is called the Residential Clean Energy Credit.

Have you noticed that negative interactions stick with you and positive ones are taken for granted? Is it just us? If we have a negative interaction with a customer, we obsess over how we could have handled it better.

According to Google, this questions is asked often enough to deserve an autofill. When you google “Why does solar …” Google suggests “… cost so much?” This implies it is a question many people search. You should try it and read what it says. To summarize, it goes into the cost of materials, labor, scarcity, tariffs, etc. Not once does Google address the relativity of the question. Why does solar cost so much compared to what? A new jet? Braces for the kids? Eggs? Paying your power company’s constantly increasing electric rates?

It’s been a little hectic over here. Many giant solar companies are going out of business. We’ll do a separate blog and what a blessing and a tragedy that is, but this long overdue market correction is making our phone ring more. Also, we moved. Our new address is 4205 Saint John’s Parkway, Sanford, Florida 32771. We updated our website too.

We are going to talk about something many of us take for granted. Grid reliability. For the most part, it is pretty reliable. Our power companies in Florida do a great job at keeping the power on. They charge us for that, and that rate increases every year, but outside of storms which might knock out the power for a few days, a few weeks in the extremes, the Florida grid has been pretty reliable. That being said …

First of all, solar is getting more widely used every day. At this point, it is a fair bet that someone in your neighborhood already has solar. Why doesn’t everybody, though? Why don’t you? At this point, if you do the math on not having it versus having it, having it wins every time and by orders of magnitude.

What is the threat to peace of mind?
In the solar world, one threat to peace of mind is the price of solar. Are you getting the best deal possible? No one wants to overpay for anything and so some research is in order. Many like to subscribe to the three quote method of ensuring they are getting the best price. It is a fairly successful method in many industries, but it can be dangerous in solar.

We are selling quarters for nickels over here … why haven’t you called us yet?