If you have a south facing roof (or even east or west) that gets a decent amount of sun, but haven’t known whether solar panels are viable on your property — or whether solar is affordable for your budget — Solar United Neighbors Twin Cities Area Solar Co-op, or S.U.N., is a smart place to start.
At no charge, the solar co-op’s vetted vendor (iSolar Inc. for 2022 and also 2023) provides an updated assessment of your property’s solar viability. iSolar then provides a user friendly customized report that details both your property’s solar capacity and total cost of installing panels, from start to finish.
Current cost savings, such as federal tax incentives (up to 30% off the full cost of the system in 2023) and Xcel Energy’s incentive programs, are factored into their report. It’s free to join the Twin Cities Area Solar Co-op and there is no obligation to sign a contract.
S.U.N. is a not-for-profit 501c3 and is able to keep costs down by a bulk discount approach.
We can’t speak highly enough of our 2022 experience with both S.U.N. and iSolar. Doing our due diligence, we did seek a second bid from another solar installer. This installer informed us that they could not beat iSolar’s pricing and gave us positive feedback about the manufacturing quality of iSolar’s proposed panels. Every member of iSolar’s team was friendly and informative — it was clear that solar energy is a passion for each one of them.
There was transparency every step of the way, and great patience with our many questions. The panels were installed over the course of two days; and it was wonderful to share in the excitement of “going live” in September 2022 with our new friends at iSolar.
To learn more, visit solarunitedneighbors.org/twincities, email mnteam@solarunitedneighbors.org or call 612-293-7267.
S.U.N. can also connect you with a former co-op member to talk about their experience with the co-op. The co-op closes to new members on April 30, 2023.
Debbie Smith
St. Anthony Park
