Residents of North Texas will soon have a new option to install PV solar panels on their homes without paying thousands of dollars up-front for installation! TXU and Solar City have teamed up to provide a plan whereby homeowners lease solar panels for 15 years. The program provides many of the benefits of PV solar – including greater climate stewardship, security against volatile electricity prices, and stimulating growth of the green energy economy in Texas – without the daunting up-front costs of purchasing and installing the panels.
Unfortunately, with the way the plan is structured now, it is not available for houses of worship or other nonprofits. If your house of worship is interested in installing a PV solar array, be sure to read the Texas Impact/ Texas Interfaith Power & Light publication Going Solar: A Congregational Guide to Photovoltaic Solar Energy!
The TXU-Solar City program costs approximately $35 per month for a 4kw system, which Solar City has estimated could reduce the electric bill for a 3 or 4 bedroom home by 15-20 percent. The monthly rate rises 2.5 percent per year, far less than the nearly 3.5 percent average increase in residential electricity prices in Texas over the last 15 years.* At the end of the lease, the homeowner has the option to buy the system, renew the lease, upgrade with a newer system, or simply have the panels removed. Homeowners do not have to be TXU customers to participate in the program, but they do need to live in the Oncor service area.
For more information, read the article "Get solar panels installed for free through TXU program" in the Forth Worth Star Telegram.
* From 1995 to 2009, the average residential price of electricity in Texas rose from 7.71 cents/kwh to 12.9 cents/kwh, an average annual increase of over 3.49%. Energy Information Agency Electric Power Annual 2007. State Data Tables 1990-2007.