Solar Energy Leasing - A Great Way to Save on Your Electric Bill

Solar Panels

A few days ago Cathy Eberhart alerted me about a really exciting opportunity to get solar panels on my roof at hardly any upfront cost and to benefit from reduced energy charges for years to come - but the opportunity is going to go away in a few weeks.

Here is how it works:

• Cooperative Energy Futures will install a 3 - 10W solar array on your roof at basically no upfront charge. (A $25 share and a $300 refundable deposit). 
• You pay a monthly bill for the electricity generated by the panel at 75% of your current electric rates for 15 years
• After 15 years, the ownership of the solar array transfers to you along with a 10 year warranty on the equipment.  At that point, you get full credit for all of the electricity it produces.

Cooperative Energy Futures says that during the first 15 years you can expect to save from $150 - $300 per year on energy costs and after the first 15 years, they are projecting savings over $1000 per year - and of course, you are reducing carbon use for all of those years!

For this to work, you need to live in Minnesota, get your electricity from Xcel Energy (for this program.  There may be other folks offering programs for other Minnesota power companies) and have a roof position that will enable a solar array to generate enough electricity. And if there are too many home owners applying, there will be a lottery to choose who gets to go ahead.  Here is the site with the details:
Solar Leasing: Cooperataive Energy Futures

This program is dependent upon the Minnesota Made Solar Incentive program, one of those great initiatives of the 2013 legislature that I mentioned in an earlier post.  But the deadline to apply for that is February 28th and to get approved through Cooperative Energy Futures, you need to apply by February 14th.  So if you are interested, call: Bruce at Cooperative Energy Futures right away.  His phone number is: 612-568- 2334.  He's a nice guy - easy to talk to, and it doesn't hurt to at least see if your house qualifies.

I called him regarding our house.  He Googled our address to look at the house on Google Maps - it's that easy.  Unfortunately, the neighbor's trees and the particular shape of our roof puts us out of the running, but at least I tried.  Why don't you give it a try too.

Now keep in mind, that I have not worked with Cooperative Energy Futures and this is a new business model and there may be other companies offering similar models, so read the details, ask the questions and make your own decisions.  I'm just passing along information on what sounds like a good idea and a good deal.  Let me know if you do it and how it goes.

Update:  After I wrote this post, Cathy shared it with Cooperative Energy Futures.  They thought you all would also like information about their partners - all Minnesota companies - in this project.  Here is the information they sent to me with links to those companies:

Cooperative Energy Futures is working with the following partners to offer this solar leasing program to its members:

The Gopher Solar Program coordinates the financing and manages the financing and bill payment system for Minnesota’s first solar leasing program. Developed locally in January 2014, Gopher Solar harnesses the recent 2013 Minnesota solar legislation to enable Minnesotans to install solar at no upfront cost.

Innovative Power Systems is one of Minnesota’s oldest and largest solar installation contractors, named a top 100 Solar Contractor nationwide by solarpowerworldonline in 2013. Since 1991, IPS has installed hundreds of solar systems across Minnesota and serves as the system developer and installer for this program.

tenK Solar, based out of Bloomington, is one of two Minnesota manufacturers of solar     electric panels. This project will utilize their latest 410W modules, which have built in micro-inverters, full 25-year equipment and production warranties, and qualify participating households for the Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive.