A long ago.

Driving fully electric since 2017.

NGrid owes me more than $1000. Charge my EV car from the sun.  The grid is my battery.

We took part in the "Solarize Swampscott/Salem" in 2012 to 2014 and put solar panels on our 100+ year old house in 2014.  RealGood Solar was the installer.  We got quotes from other installers, but decided to go with RealGood Solar because it was the installer that the Swampscott/Salem program suggested and we were satified with their work.  We decided to lease the panels from SunRun for 20 years (we are now in the 11th year).  The cost was less to lease the panels than owning them and the estimated time for recouping our costs was about 2-3 years.  However, SunRun gave us back almost half fo the installation cost in the first year, so it took only 1.5 years to recoup the cost.  At the time of installation, we could only put 17 panels on the roof, for 95% of the electric use in the home.  The panels have been generating power for us pretty reliably and we are happy with them.  Since we heated the house with oil and the water heater and cooking stove were both gas powered, only 17 solar panels were put on the roof.  We would recommend SunRun to others for solar panels. 

We didn't go full electric yet, but we got a hybrid car and when we drive around town (to and from school, the store etc.) we only use electric mode! It's great. And because we don't use it to go far we plug it in over night in our regular outlet and it charges overnight. We only have to charge every few days. I am so happy with our decision and can't wait until our next car is ready to be turned in and we can get a full electric car. 

Since shrinking my lawn, leaving the leaves and replacing non-native plants with regionally appropriate natives, our yard has never been more beautiful! We have so much more wildlife and pollinators in our yard - it's truly become a sanctuary. Additionally, it requires virtually no maintenance, no watering and no mulching or fertilizing. Having less lawn to mow and more flowers to enjoy has been a huge added bonus. We will continue to replace our non-native plants with natives season by season.