groSolar's Financing Program Bears Fruit

The Lorings are the first Massachusetts residents to take advantage of a new solar power purchasing agreement (PPA), offered by groSolar in partnership with solar service provider, SunRun. The financing program dramatically eliminates up-front installation costs, requires no maintenance fees and a down-payment of between $1,000 and $3,000. The couple will finance the groSolar-designed systems with SunRun, and then pay for monthly solar electricity at a low, fixed rate for the 18-year term. 

“The financing system is fantastic,” said Kim Loring. “We’ve essentially locked in our solar electricity rate for 18 years, and we won’t have to worry about our energy bills going up in the future. Once we saw the details of this program, we figured we couldn’t afford not to do this.”

groSolar’s partnership with SunRun now brings solar power within reach of the average homeowner, making clean solar electricity a commodity that can be paid for along with other utility bills, with no risks of future increases. An average home getting about 70 percent of its electricity from solar might pay around $87 a month for the solar electricity - and maybe $46 more for electricity from the utility for a total of around $133, according to groSolar. If they were getting all their electricity from the utility, it might be $152, groSolar estimates. 

The couple initially thought about getting a two kilowatt system, but elected to get a five kilowatt system when they realized it would provide more than 75 percent of their current energy usage. “We’re hoping that it’ll rub off on our neighbors,” said Loring. “We live on a street with a lot of homes. Hopefully people who drive by will see the panels on our roof and consider making the switch to clean solar power themselves. Frankly, I don’t know why they wouldn’t, now that this program is available.”

Democratic Governor Deval Patrick is likely hoping the same, as his goal is for the state to have 250 megawatts of solar power available by 2017. Today, the state has 9.7 megawatts.

“There have been a lot of misconceptions about solar over the years,” said groSolar CEO Jeff Wolfe. “One that we see a lot is that it is too expensive. That’s just not true anymore, and right now we’re also seeing the 'perfect storm' of public interest and government subsidies supporting solar. Our financing program is great tool to help Massachusetts homeowners do something tangible to combat climate change, and control their energy costs at the same time.”