I need to correct a recent letter to the editor about home solar panels which contained inaccuracies and generally cast them in an unfavorable light.
Here is the way the most popular plan works: Unlike the old days when you had to fund all the costs yourself and get the power for free, now you can let a solar company incur all the cost, but then you have to pay for the solar energy you use, usually at a lower rate than you are paying through JCP&L.
In return for the solar company’s investment in your home, you agree that you will buy the power generated for 20 years. You will start off at a rate that is clearly lower than the total charged by JCP&L and agree toa3percentannualincrease,whichisless than the historical JCP&L increase.
There are no guarantees, but you are likely to save money in the long term. Part of the reason is that with solar, you do not pay a delivery fee. JCP&L charges a supply fee and a delivery fee; with solar you only pay for the supply. When you are not generating solar power, you are pulling power from JCP&L just like you do now. There are no additional charges.
I could go through each of the letter’s concerns, but that would be long and boring. My main point is that the letter misses the big picture. We are at the start of an energy revolution, one that will change the way we generate and use energy.
Clean solar (and wind) power do not pollute the air and water, or contribute to global warming, or require troops in the Middle East, or cause spills in the Gulf of Mexico. People get hung up on the possibility that over 20 years there is a small chance you could conceivably pay more. Most likely you will save money, but even if you didn’t, isn’t it worth a few bucks a month to leave the Earth a little cleaner for your kids and grandkids?
I may be contacted by email at [email protected].
Herb Lazar
Manalapan