What are the best solar services for my home in the Florida Keys?

Home owners in the Florida Keys often ask: What are the best solar services for my home in the Florida Keys?

The answer varies.  If you are speaking with a solar pro they may in turn ask.  What do you hope to power with your solar panels?

Today’s modern solar panel systems provide electricity that is used by the entire home.  Simply put the solar power generated from your solar panels will 1st power the home.  If there is excess energy, meaning the solar panels are making more power than the home needs – then that power is exported (or sold) to the utility.  This is called net metering.

Conversely if the home needs more electricity than the solar panels are generating then the home imports (or buys) electricity from the utility to make up the difference.  This is why net metered solar systems are called grid interactive. Sometimes you are buying electricity and other times selling it.

Here is the fine print.  Due to franchise utility law when one buys electricity for the utility they buy at full retail.  When the utility buys your electricity they pay full wholesale.  The difference between retail and wholesale can be three to 1 (3:1).  Meaning wholesale is 30 cents on the dollar lower than retail.  If your solar system is exporting most days chances are you have a system that is bigger than you need and you paid too much up front.

Big does not mean better since solar systems are often sold based on ambiguous cost per watt.  A larger system will cost more and take longer to pay back.  The faster one recovers their initial investment is pay back (a term for capital recovery) and the better the investment. A system that mostly exports may not be a good investment from a pure financial perspective.

Most modern solar system provide power to the entire house so when asking What are the best solar services for my home in the Florida Keys the answer is always – that depends.