"Exceeded our expectations"
Reviewed Feb 15, 2016
We needed the work to be completed during the 2015 tax year. It was not only completed on time, but the work was beautifully done and the clean-up thorough. From start to finish we were given all the information needed to assure success. Based on their solar estimate, we decided to take down a chimney we weren't using and one large tree.
True South Solar staff also explained all the tax advantages in detail as part of the estimating process, and provided us with all the necessary documents to qualify for the Energy Trust of Oregon rebate as well as for the federal and state tax credits. Three sets of inspectors came out to review their completed work: City of Medford, Pacific Power, Energy Trust. They all said almost exactly the same thing as soon as they saw the True South stickers, "These folks make our job easy." They left all smiles, finding no problems.
There was a small discrepancy when we asked our tax preparer to estimate the tax impact. On further review, she discovered True South was right––and that our project had educated her on how the federal law works. True South really knows their stuff!
We are in mid-February now and have acquired a Prius Plug-In, which has a range of 12 miles when used in pure EV mode. We plug it in nightly. Even so, with our day-time solar charging, our power bill is lower than ever. As one might expect, gasoline fill-ups are few and far between as almost all our local miles are EV only––fueled by our solar panels.
The sun is still low in the sky, but our 18 high-efficiency panels already have produced peak hours of 4.5kW generation during the brightest days of early February. Although government lab ratings are rarely met in the real world, our system rated at 5.88kW is designed to exceed our present annual need as we plan to add air conditioning and anticipate even longer range batteries for our Prius will soon come available.
Our solar panels are built on an extremely durable solid copper base. They have record-setting efficiency, and are manufactured by SunPower, a US-based company, which offers the best warranty in the business. They are warranteed for 25 years and designed for 40 years' service.
We feel our future looks bright! Indeed, the only potential downside we can see for others considering solar is that we are currently in an election year. Congress has approved the Federal solar tax credit only through the end of 2016. Nobody knows whether that credit will be dropped or extended for work completed after the 2016 tax year. Our federal tax rebate of $7,834 contributed substantially to a fast payback on our installation, which is projected to pay for itself within 8 years!
