Our Residential Customers

Orange County and Los Angeles solar energy shouldn’t simply be a luxury that only high-income Californians can afford. In order for renewable energy to make a significant impact on the state economy and greenhouse gas emissions, it needs to be accessible to the majority of residents.

Due to the fact that solar panel prices have come down so steeply in the last decade, as well as federal, state and local government incentives, more families have been able to switch to solar and save on their electricity bills.

Solar Energy is Accessible to All in California

Low-income earners still struggle to gain access to this technology. That is why Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Assembly Bill 217 (AB 217). This law directs the California Public Utilities Commission to extend two measures that have been crucial to providing low-income families with the opportunity to adopt solar energy solutions for their homes and apartments.

Those two measures consist of the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) and Multifamily Affordable Solar Homes (MASH) programs. Managed by nonprofit Grid Alternatives, the goal of each program was to set aside funding from the California Solar Initiative (CSI) funding to be used for low-income families.

In total, these communities would receive $108 million in rebates for the purchase of solar panel systems, facilitating the installation of 50 megawatts of solar generating capacity.

Solar Programs for Low-Income Residents Extended

The initial time frame for the SASH and MASH programs was set to expire on December 31, 2016, at which point funding would no longer be distributed. AB 217 extends that date by five years to 2021.

Additionally, the law makes provisions to provide job training and education for low-income workers who would like to pursue a career in the solar installation field.

How Solar Benefits Californian Communities

The benefits of a solar electric system for low-income families are clear, as these citizens have the most to gain from saving money on energy consumption. By deriving their energy needs from sunlight and selling excess power back to the grid, they’ll be able to effectively run their meter backwards while also claiming federal and state tax credits and rebates, including the California Solar Initiative incentives described above.

It should also be noted that low-income communities are often disproportionately affected by the public health issues that arise from burning fossil fuels to produce electricity. Los Angeles and Orange County solar are the best ways to mitigate and eventually eliminate such externalities.

The most recent numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that new housing construction is rising as the economy recovers from the recession and existing housing stock fills up. As the housing market picks up and more single family and multi-family residences are built, Americans may notice that many of the new units will come with solar panels on the roof.

SunPower Survey Reveals High Interest in Solar

SunPower — a manufacturer known for its highly efficient solar panels offered for installation by AMECO — conducted a survey and found that six of the ten biggest home builders in the country, are including solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on newly constructed houses. Because of rising demand for clean energy technology and favorable public policies, solar power is becoming more of a priority for these firms and their customer base.

There are a number of reasons for this trend. First and foremost is the fact that Net Energy Metering and government rebates and incentives have made solar an extremely popular investment that guarantees a positive return on investment. Another is that it tends to be less expensive to install solar panels at the time of construction, rather than after the home is already built. Lastly, it’s easy to fund the solar project by embedding the cost into a mortgage.

California Leads in Solar for New Constructions

The inclusion of solar panels on new homes is largely a California phenomenon, according to Megan McGrath, a real estate analyst with MKM Partners LLC who was interviewed by Bloomberg News.

This is due to our state’s more solar-friendly regulatory environment and favorable outlook towards renewable energy. A few cities, including Lancaster, California, have even begun requiring that all new homes within the town limits be built with solar panels already installed.

Having solar panels installed on your home at the time of construction is a great way to take advantage of the numerous benefits of solar power. You’ll be able to claim the various local, state and federal incentive programs that make California solar energy such a great investment, while saving money on installation costs if you decide to purchase the panels.

Location: Fullerton, CA
System Type: Solar Electric (PV)
System Size: 19.3 kW
System Details: 56 SunPower PV Panels with 2 Central “String” Inverters and Online Monitoring
Year Installed: 2013

Electric Bill Before: $1,000
Electric Bill After: -$10.53

Clay and his wife couldn’t have been more excited to move into their new home and start remodeling it into their dream home. Then, they received a few of their first utility bills. The larger space and lack of insulation was driving their utility costs up to $1,000 and higher. They made it a goal to install a solar system and bring down their bills before the heat would hit in the following summer.

In May of 2013 they started talking to a few companies, AMECO Solar being one of them. Between the high-efficieny of the SunPower solar panels and our company’s reputation as a reputable, long-standing solar company, the couple chose to go with AMECO.

Though they were convinced of the financial savings that solar would bring them, they were very concerned with how the solar installation would look. They drove around the neighborhood to see other installations and weren’t too impressed with the results. One house even had a similar style to their own home, but the solar panels (installed by another company) were an eyesore.

Since aesthetics were important, AMECO made sure to design and install the solar system with this in mind. “We’re very pleased with how it turned out,” Clay explained, “You can’t see the solar panels from the street and most of the equipment is hidden, too.”

Throughout the entire installation process, Clay was in constant contact with AMECO Solar’s Operations Manager, David Saltzman. He helped coordinate the solar installation with the roofing company, pulled all the necessary permits, and worked with the city inspectors to make sure that the install passed Fullerton’s notably difficult inspection procedure. “David was fantastic, his service couldn’t have been better,” Clay said.

Now that the system is installed and running, Clay checks in on the production at least once a day. He’s found the SunPower interface incredibly easy to use. With a just few clicks, he can pull up a range of information such as how much energy the system is producing by the day or even by the hour!

Since he knew the solar panels had overproduced in the first month that it was turned on, he wasn’t surprised to see his electricity bill come in at -$10.53. Still, after months and months of owing Edison such high amounts, there’s nothing sweeter than to receive a bill and see that the utility company now owes him.

Location: Los Angeles, CA
System Type: Solar Electric (PV)
System Size: 5.6 kW
System Details: 32 Sharp PV Panels with a Central “String” Inverter and a Wireless Display
Year Installed: 2007

Electric Bill Before: $450
Electric Bill After: $30
Reduced by 93%!

Townson and his wife had considered going solar before, but it wasn’t until they moved into a new home that it became more of a reality.

“When we moved in 2006, we inherited recessed lighting that consisted of 40 ceiling lights throughout the entire house,” Townson explained. Combined with an aging air conditioner and the usage demands of a growing family, they were suddenly looking at electricity bills upwards of $450.

It was then that they seriously researched solar panel installation. Todd Fanady, AMECO Solar’s representative, visited for a site visit and found an ideal roof for solar. “Todd was practically salivating when he saw our roof. He told me that we had the perfect location, perfect angle and more than enough roof space for a solar system that would fit our needs,” Townson said, “He presented us with many different options and really seemed to know what he was talking about.”

Ultimately, Townson choose AMECO from the three companies that sent him solar quotes. While he appreciated Todd’s low pressure approach, he also wanted to install with a company that had been in business for a while.

Their 32-panel Sharp solar electric system was installed over two days in the summer of 2007. Since then, Townson began tracking production with wireless display that came with installation. He would watch the production start in the morning as the sun came up and enjoyed seeing the curve of the graph increase dramatically as the day went on and more solar energy was produced.

However, one day in 2012 he noticed that something was off. Production would start off as usual in the morning, but then the graph revealed huge spikes instead of the normal upward curve.

He immediately called AMECO Solar and the team looked into the issue. As it turned out, the inverter was slightly malfunctioning and clipping production at peak times. Since Townson had purchased a 10 year warranty on the inverter, it was quickly replaced and installed at no cost to him. “The entire process was pretty painless and our production was back to normal in no time,” he said.

Townson is happy with the decision he made to go solar with AMECO back in 2007. As predicted, the cost of electricity has gone up since the system was first installed. While others continue to pay more and more for their electricity, he and his family are able to produce their own solar energy and avoid rate hikes.