Just this past summer, the residential solar industry in America set a new record. 1.36 gigawatts (or 1,360,000 kilowatts) or residential solar was installed. That solar represents power for over 750,000 homes!
Right now, Purelight Power and many other solar power companies are participating in National Clean Energy Week, where the work being done to grow towards a clean energy grid in the US is highlighted.
We’re proud to be part of that growth across Oregon, Iowa, and Montana, bringing affordable solar to homeowners. Keep reading as we hear from some of our team about how they see solar fitting into a clean energy future.
Growing Solar and Clean Energy
While solar has long been popular in states like Florida and California, until recently many homeowners found themselves priced out of solar in states like Oregon or Iowa.
Founded in 2019, Purelight Power aimed to address this lack of access, and designed a way to allow more homeowners the option of owning their power with solar. But what has being part of a growing team in a growing industry been like for Team Purelight?
Reno, Client Coordinator: “Before I started all I knew was that sun is the main source of energy for solar, and if there’s sun that means power for solar and power for your home. Now what I know has changed quite a bit, just sort of all the things like net metering that helps when there’s no sun.”
Eddie, Cedar Rapids Branch Manager: “Yea, I did not know that net metering was a thing. I was always under the assumption that if you had solar that you were pure solar and it went to a battery and you are off the grid. I didn’t know that there was a way to have the best of both worlds.”
Dave, Post Installation Experience & Site Survey Rep: “I came from a completely unrelated background, didn’t have much experience with solar. But I was a customer of Purelight before I was hired to be an employee. We got ours installed in February of 2021, and then a number of months later in August of 2021 I started working for Purelight and really like that I get to interact with customers and help them convert their houses to solar and contribute to the big project of clean energy.”
Debunking Misconceptions About Solar
Solar is a newer technology, and in the last ten years has grown in leaps and bounds. But that means it’s still something folks are getting used to and familiar with. What’s a common misconception you’ve heard a lot working with homeowners looking into solar?
Reno: “A common misconception is that people think we can give them a price based just off of the square footage or how many bedrooms they have in their home. There’s a lot more that goes into that, like the annual usage of kilowatt hours, the roof angles, all these things that people don’t really know.”
Dave: “There might be a stereotype that solar panels and solar energy and and looking in that direction is something that only Democrats or liberal people would be obviously interested in. Solar can appeal to any person regardless of their presuppositions about the world at large. You know I’ll have a conservative homeowner on one side of a street, and then a liberal homeowner on the next, and they’re all working for the same thing, and that’s pretty cool.”
Ethan, Post Installation Experience Rep: “That it’s only worth it for a specific type of home or person. There’s homes that are smaller, homes that are larger. It doesn’t matter, and everybody’s kind of doing their part in it. It’s actually something that they can afford to do, and it benefits them so much that they’re saving hundreds of dollars per month.”
Carbon Free Clean Energy by 2035 with Solar
The United States has set a goal to have a carbon-free electrical grid by 2035. Solar is part of a group of technologies working towards that goal. What is that work looking like from the inside of the industry?
Eddie “I think solar is going to be the most efficient way. Growing up in Iowa, wind turbines are a big thing here, and a lot of people have bad things to say about them. They’re loud and take time to build, and there’s a lot of gears inside of a wind turbine that need to be oiled. It’s a lot cleaner in general with solar, and it’s easier to do. Solar is going to help make that 2035 deadline more accessible to reach.”
Kenny, Customer Support & Troubleshooting Manager: “Solar is the only logical way that we can go carbon neutral, because it’s the only thing that a person can do. You think about a wind turbine, a hydroelectric dam, or nuclear options, and you can’t just do that as a person. But you can get solar and put it on your house and I think because of that it will be the future. Everything else has to be something that the government is heavily involved in or you have to have a company that does it. But solar you can just choose to do it.”
Destiny, Post Installation Experience Rep: “I think it’s great that there’s so many incentives for solar and the extension of the incentives, because that of course is just going to aid people and let more people who wouldn’t necessarily be able to afford it go solar. So that’s a huge thing.”
Ethan: “It’s really nice to see that we still have a 1-to-1 net metering policy in Oregon, and states like Iowa and Montana, and that anybody that actually gets panels on is going to continue to have that. Versus you know, California might have a little tougher time with the 4-to-1 policy or even Hawai’i with the 8-to-1 policy. Here, you’re getting your energy and compensated for what you supplied, and I think that that has a lot of value to it.”
Defining Clean Energy
For many folks, a term like clean energy can mean so many things. But what does it mean to the people of Team Purelight who live and breathe solar?
Tanner, Post Installation Experience Manager: “Something where the pros outweigh the cons. Obviously there’s nothing that’s going to be a hundred percent, like there’s no externality at all. But basically what gives us the biggest benefit with the least amount of risk or pollution.”
Ethan: “I think one of the things that clean energy represents is something that is continuing to provide energy even when we’re not thinking about it. Without somebody working at a factory, or, you know, shoveling coal. The sun is coming out every single day so now we’re utilizing it.”
Jonathan, Post Installation Experience Rep: “When I think of clean energy, I think of our monitoring app that we give customers that translates energy created into CO2 reduction. And we have customers that have prevented multiple tons of CO2 going back into the air, just by creating power. Coal doesn’t do that. So there’s definitely an upside to solar: reducing the amount of CO2 in air.”
Dave: “I would just say I think of clean air when I think of clean energy and breathing. Breathing easy.”
Harness Clean Energy For Your Home
If you want to join the millions of homeowners who already use the power of the sun for their home energy, Purelight Power is here to help.
With our $0 down program, we can make the switch to solar simple and affordable for you.
Find out if your roof qualifies today!
