No Solar PV for Me

My friend and guest blogger Brian McGowan writes:  Had a guy come out and survey my house for grid tied solar. He is part of the state’s solar ethics board. He said he wouldn’t put solar PV on my house because the trees behind my house are too close and I wouldn’t get full yield all the time. Everything else was perfect. Roof angle was right for best yield where I am located and the house is pointed in mostly the right direction. He was highly impressed with everything else I was doing and passed my website along to his boss.  Kind of bummed though.

Here’s my take, Brian.  When you say you want solar what you really want is the minimization of environmental footprint related to the electricity with which you power your home.  Sometimes shade-giving trees can help more than PV on your roof.

I didn’t even know there was a “state solar ethics board.”  The mere existence of such an entity suggests that the industry may have been selling PV where it wasn’t really good for a customer or the planet.

I think you’re lucky to have had this experience.