John and Mary’s Solar Co-op Story in Pennsylvania
- Stories
Solar United Neighbors recently sat down with John and Mary in Port Matilda, PA, who went solar through the Centre County 2024 Solar Co-op. Read on to learn more about John and Mary’s experience.
This solar story is transcribed from a live interview.
What made you want to go solar?
Mary: I’ve been thinking about going solar for a number of years. It became more interesting and necessary to me through my involvement with the Citizens Climate Lobby Book Club. I would raise it with John, and he would say, “It’s expensive. It won’t pay for itself.”
John: As Mary got more interested in the issues, I got more interested. And I really believe the world has to transition to renewables. The expenses were a concern, but the tax credit made it easier. And we were really lucky to be able to take advantage of the solar tax credit.
How was your experience being a member of the solar co-op?
John: It was very useful. It made everything easier. We didn’t have to worry about the selection of the group contractor because we trusted the system. SUN’s information from the emails and on the website was very helpful.
Mary: Any kind of question we ever had throughout was answered really quickly. That responsiveness increases trust.
What was the process like for you?
John: SUN and the installer were both great communicators and very responsive. The roof was pretty old, and we were getting close to needing a replacement anyway. And as you know, you don’t want to put solar panels onto an old roof, so we had the roof done first and then we had the solar installed.
How are you enjoying being a solar homeowner?
John: Sometimes, I’ll look at the Tesla monitoring system several times a day and give Mary reports.
Mary: It’s fun to see! The first day or two, we were both so excited by the fact that we could see everything in the house was running off of our solar generation. And we had two power outages: the first one was the one that took power out in the entire area. We didn’t really realize it because we had enough power to power our appliances.
John: The grid outage was out for 27 hours, and we had solar and battery power for 17 of those hours, so it was no hardship at all for us. I was pleased with how it worked.
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