I inherited a house with solar panels in Hawaii which seemed a given. All sun, few clouds, they should be perfect, yes? But the company that installed and cared for the prepaid leased system was less than stellar. I owned the place for three years but until I had the deed in my name, they would not deal with me and I still had $200-300 monthly electric bills (without any AC) and no ability to find out online what was happening with the panels. They misspelled my name on the account and after 18 months, I gave up trying to get that corrected. I sold the place and a year after the sale, the district manager called to find out how things were going. So let's just say, their customer service left much to be desired.
I moved to California, then Oregon, and became familiar with the door-to-door sales reps that come at a rapid pace. I got two solar quotes but both said that the battery storage I wanted was impossible as well as setting up a system that did not include panels on the front of my house. (They're ugly, IMHO.)
Enter Purelight Power. They were able to engineer a small solar array with a 13.6 kWh battery that was NOT made by Tesla. (The Franklin WH battery, while costing a bit more, was well worth the purchase.) The salesman was accommodating and I was approved for their financing so the system was a go.
The two-day installation was professional, efficient and tidy, which helps because I have little dogs that will find every scrap of wire, nails or material left behind. The app that controls the Franklin battery is easy to use and even before the electric utility inspection to turn on my panels, I had reduced my electric bill by 30% just with the battery and time-of-day billing.
The communication with the customer service reps has been great. When they cannot answer my questions, they quickly find somone who can. When the utility inspection was delayed, they kept me informed, but I was so happy with my lowered costs without the panels that I could wait the few extra days.
When the inspector did arrive, he was impressed with the Purelight plans as well as the execution. Purelight workers took a lot of wood up into my attic to supplement the structure for the panel installation. I had a new roof so did not need to partake of their roofing services. The battery and controlling equipment were attached to my new siding without damaging my exterior finishes.
Even with the small panel array, I have been able to generate enough power to run my house, charge my battery and even export power to the grid. I never expected that. I have the backup system that gives me peace of mind for power outages as well as storing what I generate during the day to use at night. The winter will bring cloudy, darker days but with my energy conservation and the ability to charge my battery during nonpeak grid hours, I will never pay peak electric rates again.
At first I was worried that the solar array might be too small but in the end, they gave me exactly what I asked for and, as it turns out, exactly what I need. I haven't even had the panels running a month and I'm already producing, storing and exporting more than I ever thought possible. read more