Leeann and Tim, Solar Champions in Lowell
“May 18 — our best day in 2 years. The little bumpy tail at the end shows how we get some late afternoon shade once the trees leaf out.” — Leeann
Leeann and Tim admit that they examine their solar monitoring maybe greater than they need to, however they each love holding tabs on it. They have mates in New Hampshire and Maryland who’ve solar at their houses, they usually share their solar stats to see how sunshine ranges are faring throughout the nation.
“We check it for our own interest but also to compare with our friends. [The Maryland family’s] efficiency drops a lot in the summer when it gets really hot down there.”
Leeann posts their highlights on her Twitter account which regularly prompts different ReVision solar champions to answer with their very own monitoring screenshots. Like lots of our Solar Champions, their high manufacturing month thus far was May 2020 – a month whose solely redeeming characteristic appears to be its solar manufacturing.
Leeann and Tim purchased their home in 2018 simply because the Solarize Lowell program was wrapping up. They went to a solar open home and a trivia evening hosted by ReVision by the Solarize program and felt that solar was a “no brainer.”
“It meant a lot to us that ReVision was a B Corp. It still matters! And same with being employee-owned.”
They labored with Solar Design Specialist Malcolm to deliberately oversize their system. The home got here with an previous pure fuel heating system and an outdated cooling system, they usually knew they’d need air supply warmth pumps to finally substitute each fossil fuel-based programs. They additionally need to get an electrical car. So whereas their present steadiness on their electrical energy invoice is –$2000 (!!), they are going to finally use all of that extra energy with a way more environment friendly and low-carbon home.
“We currently use a bit more than we produce for December, January, and February, but all other months we make more power than we use, even in the summer months when our big old central air unit is a power hog,” stated Leeann, who despatched alongside a few of her monitoring highlights to show this (at backside of publish).
Quick & Easy Installation
They have been pleasantly stunned by how shortly the set up went, taking solely 2 days. The set up staff was cautious to work round a favourite shrub, and stored every little thing hidden.
“The guys did a really good job running lines so it’s not conspicuous,” stated Tim. “It’s super symmetrical, everything is in the basement and very subtle. They built a little shelf for the new subpanel, and all those details really made a difference. They were great.”
Tim and Leeann have turn out to be the definition of Solar Champions, speaking about their solar expertise to family and friends, and serving as a reference for folks they don’t even know. “It is more than worth it to us, both financially and environmentally,” they stated.
See some highlights from their solar monitoring: