“We had a real reason to help make their future better and the future of our grandchildren.” Read Deb Maher’s solar story.
Deb Maher and her husband had always tried to do their part when it came to going green. It wasn’t until their twin sons were born however, that they realized they wanted to “take bigger steps.” Find out what Deb has to say about their experience below:
“My husband and I both teach high school in New Jersey; he’s been an environmental teacher for fourteen years. I’m a math teacher and the environmental club advisor. We’ve always tried to do our part in helping the “going green” movement: doing little things around the house, in school, and in our communities. Still, it wasn’t until the birth of our twin sons in 2003 that we realized we had to take bigger steps. We had a real reason to help make their future better and the future of our grandchildren.
A few years later, we began to think about going solar, figuring with the rebates and a home equity loan, we would be able to afford our system. In December 2009 my husband attended a seminar at a home improvement store and left it all fired up and ready to get the wheels in motion to go solar. We contacted a local installer, and after their salesperson came to our house, we were sold. We planned on getting a roof system that would give us 12 kilowatts of electricity. It was going to be an expensive endeavor but with the rebates and owning the energy, we were assured our system would be paid for in five years.
Three months later, we decided to discontinue our solar project, with one of the chief reasons being poor communication from the installer. They took on too much work during the solar boom, and it really wasn’t worth the aggravation. We were calling them weekly without any progress.
During my initial solar online research I had signed up to receive a newsletter from One Block Off the Grid. In June of that year, I got a call telling me about your deal on solar in New Jersey.
What a difference it was to work with One Block Off the Grid. You guys hooked me up with your local installation partner and they came to the house the very next day. It was then we learned about the leasing finance program. We were originally going to buy our system outright, but the leasing program was much more appealing to us.
With the leasing program, you rent the panels, so if anything goes wrong, they take care of it! To appease some of our neighbors, we ended up going with a ground mount system. It seemed scary at first, but ground mount systems are 100% efficient and we have enough land to make it perfect for our use. Though they own our panels, we still own our electricity. This means we get to make money through New Jersey’s SREC program, which can help to cover the cost of the system if we decide to buy it at some point.
The efficiency of One Block Off the Grid and the installer was amazing. Everyone emailed and called to give us updates every step of the way. We are so excited about our system. Our sons talk about solar energy in school and to their friends. This is not a normal topic for seven-year-olds, but they are the future and the more they know how important energy is, the better it is for all of us.”
