Case Studies
Green Valley Residence
For this homeowner, solar was a no-brainer: “Solar power is the only way to go.” For them, getting solar “was a completely enjoyable experience. All [TFS] personell were professional, polite and pleasant at all times. Work was done quickly and efficiently.” They are especially pleased with their system since it “works beautifully and saves money.”
Oro Valley Residence
This homeowner chose to install photovoltaic (PV) solar on his roof in order to decrease his oil and fossil fuel consumption. He gave a nice recommendation of TFS: “they cleanly explained the solar system and then, when we decided to go ahead, they were efficient and did a great job.” According to this homeowner, the [...]
Gascho Residence
The Gascho family installed photovoltaic solar panels because they simply wanted to use the sun to make their electricity. They think that Tucson should see more solar installations every day. According to them, “Solar power is a big part of the answers to our energy problem!”
Kimball Residence
The Kimball family chose to install solar on their home because of the great financial savings they would receive and because the solar benefits the home by raising the resale value of the house. The best features of the system are “the money I’m saving and the positive impact on the environment.” Solar isn’t the [...]
Rees Residence
After seeing many of his friends go solar, this home owner decided to make the switch to solar electricity and was excited to have the chance to put it on his home. He believes “solar is an exciting technology that will continue to grow.” Check out the data monitoring link to see how much electricity [...]
North Residence
“We had been investigating [solar] for several years as a way to reduce our monthly expenses and move toward a smaller footprint on the planet.” The North Family chose to make the jump to solar when they realized the 2011 incentives offered such a great financial return and they found a lease option that worked for [...]
East Tucson Residence
This homeowner chose to install a photovoltaic (PV) solar system on the roof of her home in order to reduce her environmental impact. Energy effeciency is also important to her, and with her new data monitoring and consumption monitoring, she can easily track her solar system’s production as well as her own electricity usage. Through SunPower [...]
Foothills Residence
This homeowner chose to go solar in order to reap both the financial and environmental benefits. Their favorite part of the new system is the electricity generation and the monitoring capabilities. With the SunPower data monitoring, they can see remotely and easily how much electricity their system is producing in real time and they can [...]
Repp Residence
The Repps chose to install solar on their roof because of the long term energy and financial savings it would offer them. They were also interested in the sustainability concerns of getting their electricity from coal – now their system saves on average 1,400 lbs of coal from being burned to produce the electricity for [...]
Central Tucson Residence
This family chose to go solar because they “live in Tucson!” Also, the SunPower lease allowed them to install a system with a single up-front payment and no future monthly payments. Their favorite part of the new solar panels is simply “that (TFS) made it happen for us, and we never thought we could (go [...]
Afek Residence
These homeowners chose to go solar because they wanted to save energy, fossil fuels and to reduce their carbon footprint. In their neighborhood, many other homes have gone solar, making it an easy decision for the Afeks. Their favorite part of the system is being able to track how quickly they are saving energy and reducing [...]
Catalina Foothills Residence
These homeowners chose to make the switch to clean solar electricity in order to reduce their fossil fuel consumption and also to reduce their electricity bills. Now that they are 100% solar, their average electricity bill is just $8 dollars!
Saddlebrook Residence
The motivation to have a solar photovoltaic (PV) electrical system installed on their roof was mostly financial for these homeowners. Facing escalating electricity bills, they chose to go solar which saves them on average $90.00 a month, or a total of $1,080 in the first year. Now they are saving money, especially in the summer [...]
Foothills Residence
For these homeowners, going solar was an important step financially and for the environment. “We have been considering this for a very long time and watching the pricing of systems. The incentives and cost finally reached a point where the payback was reasonable. We also wanted to do our part to preserve the environment and [...]
TriSports.com
100% Solar TriSports.com, Tucson’s very own triathlon, cycling, running and swimming gear shop, is now generating up to 100% of their electricity from solar power. The 128 kW solar electric (photovoltaic) system consists of two solar arrays mounted on custom built steel shade structures and a third array mounted on their roof. The panels will [...]
Southeast Tucson Residence
These homeowners had TFS install a solar photovoltaic (PV) system on their roof to help offset their electricity bill. For them, going solar was a “good idea to save money.” Their favorite thing about the system is the data monitoring feature which allows them to remotely view the production of their system. Even while on [...]
National Outdoor Leadership School
The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has long been dedicated to sustainable practices and maintaining their natural environment. In light of this, they commissioned TFS to install a 19.7 kW system for the school which will cover almost all of their electricity usage. The system will also become part of their teaching material to students and [...]
Montgomery & Associates
The Montgomery & Associates, a hydrogeology consulting firm, chose to install solar energy to provide electricity for their Tucson office because utilizing renewable energy is important to them and because the investment would ultimately help them save money. The incentives offered by tax credits and TEP also made the investment very attractive. The Montgomery & Associates solar [...]
Casa Maria Soup Kitchen
The Casa Maria Soup Kitchen won Technicians for Sustainability’s solar grant for 2011 and received a 3.87 kW solar electric (photovoltaic) system. The system saves the soup kitchen over $70 a month which allows them to reallocate those funds towards offering more services and providing food to more people. The organization was chosen to receive [...]
Our Mother of Sorrows
The Our Mother of Sorrows Parrish has served the Tucson community for many years. They strive to provide their parish with good examples by reaching out to those in need and through sharing faith and love with one another and God. Their dedication has led them to power their facility by the sun. Adding solar power [...]
Animal Health Hospital
Animal Health Hospital initially chose to install solar panels at their facility to reduce the business’ footprint, but their switch to solar made economic sense too. The system will produce 2,919 kWh per month, helping the hospital save $360 a month, in addition to offsetting 76,500 lbs of CO2 annually. “Having solar power has significantly [...]
Central Tucson Home
This happy lease customer is thrilled with his solar system. “TFS is an absolutely first rate company made up of dedicated individuals who care about sustainability and take pride in the craftsmanship of their work. They did a great job on the solar installation at my house and expedited the whole process of permitting, inspection, [...]
Southwest Tucson Residence
This family chose to install solar photovoltaic panels to become more green. They appreciated that everyone in the TFS office, field crew and outside contractors did their best to make sure the family was satisfied. They feel that the best part of their new system is the data monitoring component which allows them to check their [...]
Sam Hughes Residence
This family chose to install solar panels on their roof “because it is simply the right thing to do.” They think the TFS crew are nice, competent folk and think that the best thing about their system is that it works! At their home, this family also has 4,000 gallons of stored water and solar fans [...]
Bornstein Residence
“We have always believed that solar technology is vastly underused in the Tucson community.”
Meet Kate
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet Kate Flax. Kate has turned her home into a working model of sustainability having installed a solar electric system, solar hot water and a significant water harvesting system, which includes two 620 gallon tanks and a 10,000 gallon underground concrete cistern, which feeds into her [...]
Meet the Trudinger-Smith Family
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet the Trudinger-Smith family. Ash and Lisa Ann, along with their three children, have turned their central Tucson home into a working model of sustainability by installing a 4.73 kW solar electric (PV) system in January 2011. Their primary goal when deciding to install solar was [...]
Meet Mari and Jerry
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet Mari and Jerry. Mari Sorri and Jerry Gill installed a 3 kW solar electric (PV) system on their home located in Vail, in 2009. After moving from Oro Valley, they purchased a plot of land and built their home. To these self proclaimed “Earth lovers,” [...]
Meet Mohyeddin
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet Mohyeddin. Mohyeddin Abdulaziz has turned his home into a working model of sustainability by installing solar electric and solar hot water systems as well as rainwater harvesting cisterns. He is no stranger to renewable energy systems, having installed solar hot water during the Reagan administration. [...]
Meet Bill and Linnea
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet Bill and Linnea. After several years of considering the costs and benefits of solar, Bill and Linnea Boaz, whose background is in finance, installed a solar electric (PV) system in October 2009. The tax credits and utility rebate made it financially viable for these SaddleBrooke residents to [...]
Meet Leona
Behind every great installation, there’s a good story — meet Leona. Leona Davis has turned her home into a working model of sustainability by installing a solar electric (PV) system as well as a water harvesting system. Leona’s background is in plants, the environment and water, which she puts into action in her position at [...]
Fernandez Residence
For this family, teaching their children by example how to use the natural resources available was very important, and so going solar “just made sense.”
Central Tucson Residence
This Tucson family decided to have solar photovoltaic panels installed on their roof for environmental and sustainability reasons.
Casas Adobe Residence
This family decided to install a ground mounted solar array to cover the costs of an all-electric home.
Vail Residence
This family in Vail, Arizona decided to install a solar hot water system because they have been thinking ‘green.’
Vail Residence
This southern Arizonan family chose to install a PV solar system because they wanted to go green.
Global Community Communications Alliance Solar Array
The Global Community Communications Alliance chose to install a photovoltaic solar array in order to save energy, reduce pollution and become a more viable example of sustainable principles in action.
Oro Valley Residence
This family decided to install a photovoltaic electric solar system and a solar hot water collector and heater in order to take advantage of all the sun energy available in Tucson.
Oro Valley Residence
This family decided to install a photovoltaic electric solar system and a solar hot water collector and heater in order to take advantage of all the sun energy available in Tucson.
Green Residence
The Green family had their solar electric photovoltaic panels installed for the guilt-free electricity and to save money.
West Tucson Residence
This family chose to install an electric solar system in order to save on their electricity bill and to create a more sustainable lifestyle.
West Tucson Residence
This homeowner chose to install a solar hot water system to save money and to “find a green solution.”
West Tucson Residence
For this family, the best part of their new system is the reliability of the hot water
Lakeside Ridge Loop Residence
This residence wanted to go solar because they believe it’s the smart and sustainable choice. They are pleased to be able to use the sun’s renewable energy for their newly installed solar hot water system. They are happy to take advantage of the many sunny days that occur here in Tucson. Throughout the installation process, this family was [...]
North Tucson Residence
These North Tucson residents chose to install a system with TFS, because they wanted to “go green” and the tax credits help make it financially feasible. The homeowners said working with the TFS solar hot water crew was “superb and a real pleasure” — in fact, so much so that they wished there was more work for [...]
Tucson Racquet Club
The Tucson Racquet Club is proud to be the new owner of a solar hot water system. As a local Tucson business, the racquet club recognizes their responsibility to be a leader in the environmental arena. Their goal in installing a solar hot water system was to do something positive for the environment, and for their bottom line. They said [...]
East Tucson Residence
This family has been working to continually minimize their carbon footprint. They have already been benefitting from their solar hot water and rainwater harvesting systems, so installing a solar electric system was a natural step for these homeowners. They enjoy watching the numbers on their meter go backwards. They are happy with the TFS staff’s professionalism and friendly attitudes. These homeowners [...]
Cook Residence
This homeowner was excited to install solar hot water on her roof because they’ve “gotta go green!” They loved the friendly TFS staff and even went so far as to say that working with Technicians for Sustainability is like working with family. The Cooks think that the best thing about the system is the money [...]
