William Horrell of Farmdale, Ohio has had a fascination with solar for many years. He was out driving in a nearby town when he saw a residential solar power system, stopped his car, got out, and asked the homeowner who did the installation. Guess what he said?
"I'm very happy. I couldn't be any more ecstatic unless I had some more panels," said Mr. Horrell. "Our electric bills were $500 a month in the winter. After I had the panels put on, we were getting a bill for hundreds of dollars less. So it reduced it down quite a bit."
Mr. Horrell built a 3.6 kW array on the south-facing roof of his barn using 14 Canadian Solar 255 watt panels. He opted for a string inverter from SMA, the Sunnyboy 3000 TL model. The array is set to generate nearly 5,000 kWh per year which would be an offset of nearly two-and-a-half tons worth of coal.
"I'm constantly checking the meter. Normally, on a sunny day, I'm generating up to 21 or 22 kWh per day."
Mr. Horrell is planning on adding more panels at some point in the future either on the roof of his house or on a ground mount next to his barn. Curiously enough, he has solar panels installed on the roof of his bus for charging his batteries. His friend sold him his four panels many years ago and they have worked ever since. It was in part because of the panels that recharged his batteries that he decided to go solar.
A humorous running quip here at YelllowLite is to ask each individual solar panel system owner what they call their array because everyone says something different. We get solar system, solar panels, solar energy system, even sun collector. Mr. Horrell's name? "I just call my panels YellowLite."
Asked if he had any problems with the system, Horrell said no problems at all. Solar is quiet with no moving parts except a small fan in the inverter. The panels themselves are so unobtrusive that they blend into the background so he hardly knows they are there anymore. After contacting YellowLite and speaking to solar consultant Abe, Mr. Horrell didn't bother with any other quotes.
"Mr. Horrell was the nicest guy I've ever met," said solar consultant Abe. "He was a pleasure to work with. His positive attitude made me want to go above and beyond to help him."
The solar energy system not only reduces the electricity bill and produces SRECs, it also adds equity to the house. His 3.6 kW array add approximately $11,000 of resale value to his home. So no matter if you choose to go with the best solar panels, the most efficient solar panels, solar panels for sale, or simply cheap solar panels, solar panels for your home are a great deal.
