Live in Philadelphia? Want to put solar panels on your home but want to keep a grid tie and cheap electricity Relax. You can!
The Solarize Philly Program launched this past spring in April, 2017 by the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA) using seed money from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar in Your Community Challenge. The organization is a group-buying program that uses the power of buying solar installation components in bulk to make the cost of roof top solar even more affordable. The actual heavy lifting one choosing equipment is done by the PEA. PEA has evaluated the equipment (inverters, panels, etc) and preselected three installers, Solar States, Solar by Kiss, and Moore Energy.
Because of the volume of the equipment and the number of installations, the city-wide program is able to install roof top solar at a reduced price. The installed price is $3.15 per watt. Customers participating in the program must pay PECO an additional meter fee and taxes ranging between $8 to $10 a month. Customers do get to benefit from the state’s net metering law which requires PECO to buy their extra power at the retail rate —the same rate electric service charge their customers.
So far, over 2,000 households have signed up for free solar assessment. Solarize Philly plans on installing solar panels on 500 city rooftops by 2018.
Also published on Medium.