Happy Energy Independence Day from SunRun!
This July 4th, declare your independence from your utility, rising utility prices, and dirty electricity. Now, you have a choice. SunRun home solar is the best alternative to your utility today. Not only is home solar clean, but you’ll also be able to lock in your current electricity rates for the future. And best of all, it’s easy to switch – with SunRun, you can upgrade to solar power for little to no cost and your rates will be fixed for the next 18 years. No more unpredictable utility rate hikes.
It’s gotten even easier this summer to declare your freedom and bring clean solar power into your home, with SunRun – sign up with SunRun by July 5th and we’ll give you $610 cash back once you’re up and running. There’s no need to mail in any forms or take any other action. Just sit back, watch the fireworks, and you’ll have $610 cash back in your pocket.
Energy Independence means different things to different people, whether its freedom from rising electricity costs or dirty energy. The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf has been the most recent reminder of our nation’s need to free ourselves from the grip of fossil fuels. Running a country on dirty energy comes with costs outside of our electricity bills, including the loss of human lives, destruction of our environment, and devastation of our local economies. One SunRun homeowner likes the idea of being energy independent in his house because it’s about “saving money and leveraging the sun.” Another homeowner believes that we have to “get ourselves free from importing energy into our country.” And many simply believe that they are being “raked over the coals by the utility.”
What do you think? What does going solar mean to you? Let us know by leaving us a comment!
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
For me, going solar means lower bills!
For us the decision was made easier with SUNRUN’s leasing program.
With our city’s rebate along with the others we are running on solar today and saving money right away.
We are looking forward to our rebate money as well coming next month.
We check our electric meter daily to see how much it goes BACKWARDS…
We love that we are GREEN and saving California from having to build more power plants to handle all these people.
We are actually selling extra energy back to our power company that they are selling to others.
Everyone is winning on this deal.
Thank you SUNRUN, thank you AKEENA SOLAR.
The only sensible way to bring down the cost of power and to eliminate the cost and ecological destruction of new transmission lines is to produce the power where it will be used. I only wish that our local Department of Water and Power would show up to bless the installation (fully completed in early March) so that we can turn it on and begin to do our part.
Solar means happier days for our children and grandchildren and lower bills of course!
The solar panels on my roof thrill me, not because of a specific savings of money right now, but because they represent my committment to this beautiful earth on which I live.
I have wanted to have solar energy for years, and now SunRun’s financial plan of my leasing the panels and paying $85. a month enabled me, with little capital, to Go Solar this year! I’m so grateful to finally be ‘off the grid’!
Went Solar on Jan 2010. Saving money and lowering my utility bills as well as saving the environment from pollution is a win win situation.
We love these responses, please keep them coming!
Thank you.
We decided solar would help stabilize our home price, after the recent devaluation. We were in need of a new roof anyway and by selecting a dark charcoal color to co-ordinate with the panels our home immediately jumped in beauty and funtionality as well as the value increase. We also replaced our windows, entry doors, garage door, installed attic fans, replaced some of the insulation which had been moved around due to work in the attic, upgraded our pool equipment and while the crew was replacing our A/C unit with a new version we also installed a roof mounted water cooler. Answering the question of why would take pages, but simply put we enjoy spending our hard earned money on trips to the beach, dinner at a nice restaurant, our in my case just surprising the wife with roses and a little gift to say how much I love her, much better than spending it on energy.
what going solar means to me is a dream that i have had since the 1970′s, when i saw a home going solar. i did not know what it was and asked around. even then, at 17-18 years old, i knew that this was safer and more economical then nuclear, and being at the mercy of your electric company. and, in today’s ecomony, this is a wonderful way to create jobs and get away from the dangerous fosil fuels. and, i laugh when hear people upset over an increase in cost of electric. i want to shake them and say go solar. it is cheaper and the power company cannot raise yours rates. the sun is giving you your electric power.
thank you sunrun for giving me my dream of going solar. i am very happy.
Nancy Larson
Going solar for me was the most positive step I have made toward saving some if this planet from ecological disaster. I encourage everyone I know to contact SunRun so that they too can benefit frin solar power,
Sun Run and Alteris Renewables are a winning combination. I have 28 panels producing 4.92 kws of electricity. I also have 2 solar panels that take care of 90 % of my domestic hot water needs. I also have 5 panels that heat my swimming pool as well. A fantastic investment and I feel I am doing my part to protect Planet Earth the best way I know how. Thanks a million for all your help!!! Your partner in progress.
With retirement comes the ability to volunteer time back to the the community. Along with my volunteer work, I am proud to have made the decision to install solar here on my Alpaca farm, to not only lower my utiity bills, but to help the CA utility grid by going GREEN. I am proud to be an AMERICAN!
We researched Solar for about 2 years. Finally we chose “Real Goods” as our contractor and weighed purchase vs. leasing. We chose to lease through Sun Run which the Real Goods company totally took care of. We went with 36 panels generating ~ 7.4 kw of power. We paid $500 down and committed to paying SUNRUN $175/mo. for 18 yrs. They then will remove the system, upgrade to current tech. or offer a buy-out- ownership. My thinking is that by then there will be hydrogen fuel cells and other tech. available. I can’t wait for AC weather which will REALLY pay off for us. We average $278 to $500 per month in AC weather and look forward to more savings, not to mention the “green” payback. Sun is free renewable energy!
Looking forward to savings and running the AC this summer guilt free. That is if PGE gets out here to bless the new system that has already been inspected by the city
Solar Power is one of the biggest solutions where everyone wins big time !
We recently signed on to lease Solar Power from SunRun. Less than a month after locking in our rate with SunRun the utility company decided to move to a tiered rate system. So happy it won’t affect us a dramaticly as it will others. SunRun installs and maintains the system. We pay less for our power and help protect the planet. Imagine every rooftop on the planet soaking up the sun! Imagine oil wells a thing of the past! Companies like this give us hope for our future. Installation began yesterday and we are looking forward to watching our meter roll backward while telling everyone we know to join the movement!
My wife and I went solar after thinking about it for a long time. A friend referred me to Akeena Solar and SunRun. After a consultation with our sales rep we signed on. Going solar is my way of telling our local power company, (PG&E) “We’re not going to take it anymore!”
After years of 30% rate increases and the recent attempts to pass Prop. 16 we had enough. I just got my first statement from PG&E and we are in the black already.
I’ve already referred a dozen people and they’re signing on as well.
We think its the best investment we have ever made. Saving money and increasing the value of our home. Thanks a million.
Alas, we are residents in the greater Los Angeles area. AS a result of the inefficiency of the city, our solar panels have not been turned on as yet. We are still waiting after four months! Could the reason be that DWP will lose money when the solar engages, and therefore the utility will lose money? One does become suspicious. The installing company tells me that it may take up to 6 months before we are authorized. In an adjacent county, the service begins in two weeks!
We don’t know yet, unfortunately, since Macrh we’ve been waiting to find out. Maybe you can help move it along? We’d love to know what it means, we think it means lower electrical bills and helping the environmewnt, but right now, we can’t tell you…
I had been wanting to go Solar for years but the costs were not working out. I worked with a local installer last fall on going Solar and was ready to sign the purchase order with all the tax credits and rebates making it some what better investment but before we could our utility company lowered the rebate amount and the investment was once again too much for the return.
A few months later I saw that Sunrun was coming to Colorado but I held off until I better understood the financial aspects and lease obligations. In March I decided to move forward and now I have solar installed and will turn it on as soon as new netmeter is installed, hopefully this week.
Without Sunrun I would not have moved forward with Solar due to costs. I look at going solar as a hedge bet against rising electrical needs and costs. To lock in my electrical costs for 20 years is very appealing and with zero down it was an easy decision.
Outside of the financial aspects I want to be a part of the solution rather then just complain about the rising costs and environmental aspects of electricity produced by coal and natural gas. I believe technology is the way to the future and a way for me to remove myself from the grid so that we don’t have to build anymore coal and natural gas burning electrical plants. Electricity needs will continue to increase but at least I know I’m not a part of it.
I have had solar for only two months and the cost of the electric is making money for me instead of paying the company.
Glad I went solar when I did.
Going solar to me means, lower utility bills, less dependence on foreign oil and that it will ensure that our future generations will be independent from oil.
These are really amazing comments. Thank you to all the homeowners who have commented and are continuing to inspire and motivate us here at SunRun! We’d love to hear more from you all!!
It’s such a weight off my mind, the solar energy in our home, coming from our roof–what a gift, this situation coming to us from SunRun. I feel like we didn’t have to do ANYTHING to make this manifest, except to just want it and be open to the opportunity. I hope it will spread like a butterfly.
We went solar in Jan. 2010. Unfortunately we got no rebates.
It is nice to see the meter run backwards during the day. This summer I am looking forward to great savings when I run the air conditioning, and staying cool.
Go solar! It’s funny how people will drill miles and miles into the earth to find oil, when there’s this big, bright solution staring us right in the face every day! Thanks SunRun!
I would love to leave a positive comment about what going solar means to me, but I can’t get my system installed. My install date keeps getting pushed back, maybe at the end of July now, and I signed up in March. Help me enjoy the benefits of going solar. I’ve done my part. SunRun has done their part. Everyday I watch the sun rise and set and think of all the money that’s slipping through my fingers. HELP!
I like the idea that I’m doing something to “save the earth” and at the same time save some $$. Everyone on my block is now interested. Thanks for giving me this opportunity without spending a lot of cash which I can’t afford.
Thanks Sun Run! I have independence from rising utility bills, a sense of commitment to the environment on the way to being satisfied. See my blog at http://priscillapapers.blogspot.com/ – I’m keeping a record of performance.
I really like my panels, they are saving me all sorts of money. Too bad they were made in Mexico and paid for with American tax dollars. Great way to create jobs for other countries.
The obvious benefits of my solar system are the reduced electricity bills and saving some of that precious non-solar energy. I live in an area of very high electricity rates and my first three months with solar have resulted in negative electricity usage. With the day time temperature averaging over 100 degrees from late May to early October and a large house to cool, solar gives me the freedom to make air conditioning decisions without worrying about the multi-tier billing system that Edison puts into effect during the summer.
Initially going solar meant not being totally depended on the utility company. However, in investigating the cost and return on the solar it was financially not viable to afford this technology. You came up with an innovetive way to make the technology afford. Thanks
My 24-panel 5.5 kW solar system started operation in March of 2010 and I could not be more satisfied with the results. My National Grid electric bill immediately dropped by 40 to 50% – our environmental footprint has gotten that much smaller! The system has been totally maintenance free so far and is quietly doing its job on my roof every day. I am supporting the US solar manufacturing industry (and do we need more high-tech manufacturing jobs in this country!!) and reducing my dependency on nuclear electric energy. If every house in the US would produce just half its energy needs through solar sources, I bet there would be no unemployment in this country anymore and a lot less oil drilling. (Traveling to Germany recently I was impressed that seemingly every third house had a solar system installed.)
Next:
(1) Electric cars that get charged at night from the stored energy of solar panels on my roof.
(2) Roof tiles that have the solar cells build right into them. (Lets admit it, no house looks prettier with the current rectangular blue panels sitting on top of the roof.)
I’m am retired Public Affairs Manager and after 35 years working for a major utility I know what enery efficiency is all about. It’s a win-win for me, my community and the earth. It’s my part of going green. My systems is not installed yet but I can’t wait for that day that the solar panels from SunRun are installed. GO SOLAR!
Going solar means doing the right thing and setting an example for our kids that each of us can do something to better our and their futures!
With Sun Run’s leasing option, going solar was a no-brainer. This was one of the best decisions my family has made. Our electric bill has dropped by more than half, and the savings will only get better. Since I am able to monitor my panel’s energy output, I know how much energy they are actually producing on a daily basis. 99% of the time, they produce more energy than expected. Hopefully more people will jump on the solar bandwagon. The sun is there for you, why not use it?
The first time I looked at the electric meter I’ve become so accustomed to after all these years and saw it was RUNNING BACKWARDS I knew we had made the right decision. There is no doubt electricity needs are only rising yearly. And the electrical provider’s response is to raise rates. Not only are we hedging our bets against future rate increases but I feel we are doing something tangible to improve the environment.
I can remember the very first time I saw a “geodesic dome” house many years ago and was told it was self sustaining through solar electricity production, I was hooked on the idea of producing electricity outside of So. Calif. Edison. Now after all these years it is both cost feasible and practical through Sun Run. Thank you for helping to make a dream – reality…
Going solar is always been our plan. SunRun gave us the opportunity and worked with us with our resources and made it happen to “GO GREEN”. We have been looking for a company that would best fit our needs. We just received our first PG&E bill and I can’t believe that it is in a 2 digit number. I was so happy to see that and because of our solar system that will help save a money and energy. Going solar is amazingly exciting to us, we have been trying to make our home environmentally friendly and now we are in it. I have a hyrid SUV and love it. Now our next project will be the tankless water heater. We also planted our own garden, we have been doing this a while. Summer vegetables are so good, ie. tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, eggplants, all different kinds of herbs. GOING GREEN is in our systems, hope everyone would do the same it will help save our planet. SunRun helped us meet our goal and we appreciate it very much. Thank you so much for everything, we are enjoying our cool energy efficient solar system now. Hope people would realize how much they can help save our planet by going SOLAR.
Started solar power in Oct 2009. Can’t believe how much was generated through a winter in New England! Far exceeding estimates and no problems. Love to see the panels squeeze power out of the last minutes of sunshine each day- it really adds up and now getting a refund check each month from the electric company.
Unfortunately, I wish I can say how wonderful it is to have solar. We had such high hopes. They are being dashed quickly.
We started the lease process in March 2010, and still do not have our solar panels up and running. We were hoping to save for the summer months, but it looks like it’s not going to happen. We are so very disappointed. Apparently, there are some problems with the rebate program and we are still waiting for the state to send us the approval letter. That’s the only piece of information we are waiting for. All other approvals have gone through. They are putting solar in for those that bought the system, but for those of us who are leasing, there have been numerous delays.
We’re very sorry for the delays, Aimee
. We’re doing everything we can to expedite the process – the delay resides w/in the state at the moment… Since SunRun purchases and owns your system, we’re in the same boat you are and are just as invested in getting your system installed and running. I’m sorry about the delays, again – and we’ll continue to work on getting you started with clean home solar power! 