Cost Saving Solar Power Now Available to More Mass. Residents
Whether you own your home or rent, cost-saving solar power is now available to save you money on most, if not all, of the electricity you use each month.
Relay Power, a Greenbelt business partner, is a clean energy company that specializes in what is called “community or shared solar” for the roughly 80 percent of Massachusetts residents who might like to go solar but decide against it for various reasons, such as aesthetics, cost, risk or because their roof is too shaded, too small or too old.
“Folks on the North Shore can take advantage of solar projects in other parts of the state,” said Neil Potter, Relay Power’s partnership manager. “They are going to be saving money, much like if they were getting a rooftop system put on their home and will be doing the environmentally conscious thing.”
With community solar, there’s a credit on your electric bill for your share of the energy produced by these remote solar gardens and there are no expenses for repair or maintenance.
“You can save money on your electric bill without any upfront investment,” said Potter, who said on average, there will be about a 10 percent reduction in your electric bill. A somewhat typical annual bill of $2,000 would be reduced to about $1,800.
Massachusetts is among the states expected to install the most community solar projects in the next few years.
When a potential customer calls Relay Power, a representative will review their annual electricity usage and calculate their savings and size of their share of a remote solar garden based on how much electricity they use.
“There have been programs where you can opt into clean energy, but usually you would pay a premium for that,” said Potter. “Here, you are actually saving money on an annual basis,” noting, however, that fewer solar credits are generated in the winter with less direct sun than the summer.
For the 20 percent of Massachusetts residents who can put solar panels on their roofs, Potter said that is a greater-savings option, but unlike rooftop solar, community solar is “portable.” Those moving within the National Grid service area can take it with them or home sellers can pass the contract on to the next owner.
Relay Power will donate $100 to Greenbelt for each new customer in the National Grid service area. For more information, and to be sure your sign-up results in a donation, go to www.relaypower.com/ecga