Like any other major home purchase, try to get quotes for your solar project from at least two contractors. Carroll White REMC recommends selecting a contractor who is licensed and insured.

In preparing their quotes, contractors should review your past electricity consumption before sizing your solar system. Carroll White REMC members can view and print copied of past bills using the co-ops Smarthub account management tool. The contractor should provide a detailed cost breakdown, realistic figures on the amount of energy your system will produce and an estimated payback period.

Remember, if a contractor’s offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Solar panels do not produce power at night, during thunderstorms or if they are covered with snow. Fortunately, Carroll White REMC can provide power to your home during those times.

It is important to know that during an outage, interconnected solar systems without a battery back-up are inoperable. This is a necessary safety precaution to stop power from being backfed from solar systems onto Carroll White REMC lines and injuring or killing workers. That’s why Carroll White REMC requires members installing solar systems to enter into an interconnection agreement which requires that industry and government standards for the manufacture and safe installation of solar equipment are met.

Finally, to help avoid potential errors or delays in the installation/interconnection process, Carroll White REMC highly recommends that you speak with one of our engineers or energy advisor at (800) 844-7161 before you install a solar system. Your utility is the most reliable source of information on how much you can expect to save on your energy bills and if solar makes sense for your property.