For Randi and Sherry, solar was an obvious decision. As lifelong practitioners of sustainability, they maintain an organic garden, compost regularly, water harvest, and - now - have made the switch to solar! After years of keeping solar in the back of their minds, all of the pieces finally 'clicked' into place, giving them the perfect opportunity to fulfill their longterm goal of eventually generating their energy from the sun. We sat down with Randi and Sherry shortly after their installation was completed to recap the process with them.
What inspired you to go solar?
The sun! We know utility costs are going to go up, and we want to do what we can for our environment, locally and globally. We were in a position to move forward.
Once we started seriously looking into it - we are closer to retirement than we used to be - and we viewed it as a part of retirement planning. When we get into retirement, we will be on a fixed income. The more we do now to maintain a flat expenditure over time became one of the main reasons.
How did you go about researching solar?
I actually did a lot of research - I did a lot of research online of course, I also talked to 3 or 4 solar companies. I got a lot of estimates - that’s what I do, I get a lot of estimates. I also talked to a friend who works at TEP - as a friend, not as a TEP employee.
Some of the things we try to practice as a household philosophy are buying American made, buying local, supporting a high quality product. Those were some of the benchmarks for what we were seeking in our research.
What has been your experience since installing?
We’re like giddy school children - let’s go out there and see how much we generated today! We were very excited to have it completed and watch them flip the switches to get all of the meters and things start running. It was a giddy moment. Our usage hasn’t changed since we know we are making it. Nothing of our usage patterns have changed based on that, but it’s just cool to know that’s where we’re getting that from. That’s kind of cool.
We have been in our house for 18 years, since April Fools Day 1997. It takes a while to achieve your goals, but you can.
Keep an eye out for Randi & Sherri's full case study, coming in the near future!