Homeowner Story: Laurel Passera
A better future for our children
Raleigh, North Carolina
I want to leave my children a world that’s less influenced by climate disasters. This is the most important reason why I became interested in solar energy. It's not too late to start paying attention to solar energy for our sustainable future.
Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value
Laurel Passera lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has installed a solar power system on her house with a certainty, “Tomorrow might be too late.”
Products Installed: Q.PEAK DUO L-G8
System Size: 8.8 kW
Installer: NC Solar Now
Est. Cost Savings: $1,496/yr
Est. CO₂ Savings: 21,248lb/yr
The Challenge
North Carolina, along with Florida and Texas, is one of the states suffers the most damage from hurricanes. They have become more intense due to accelerated global warming, causing more damage. Laurel Passera is a local of North Carolina who has spent most of her life in this region. However, she feels things are getting worse every year; air quality is getting worse, and hurricanes occasionally destroy their livelihood. It appears to be natural for Laurel to become more interested in the environmental issues.
She started turning her eco-consciousness into actions; she worked in and around the solar industry for about 15 years and became a lifelong environmentalist. Reducing her carbon footprint was one of her commitments to make things right and she finally decided to go solar. Despite Laurel and her husband shared very different views in a lot of respects, he supported her decision with the benefit of being self-reliant in energy. He wanted the security of knowing that the family would have a power source to take care of their children even in emergencies, such as blackouts. There was no doubt that solar panels would be the perfect solution for all, Passera family.
I’ve lived in Raleigh since about 2007. We have amazing weather here, I think. We have four seasons, and we get a ton of sun. We had no trees in this property when we moved in. So we had this beautiful open expanse to put solar on without shade. Climate was what concerned me. In summer, we get a lot of clouds, and we get a lot of hurricanes too. I wondered if we would be able to get power that we needed without disruption.
Project Overview
Laurel installed 8.84 kW solar battery panels on their 3,000 square foot (approximately 278 ㎡) house–a big scale for a residential solar installation. She was in need of a system with substantial energy capacity to cover her entire house which was broken up into three different zones with separate air conditioning units for each. In addition, her electric vehicle would take a considerable part in energy consumption.
Laurel made a contact with NC Solar Now, one of local solar system provider in town. As a part of installation process, they went through details of how much electrical power would be needed for her house, on what scale of the system she would need, and tips to choose good panels with a reliable solar manufacturer. After much contemplation, she finally came to the conclusion that Qcells would meet her standards overall.
First of all, the design of Qcells’ panel was sleek and beautiful that the panels looked aesthetically pleasing on their garage roof had recently been built.
Moreover, the fact that Qcells panels are made in Georgia, which is close to North Carolina, has had a big influence on her decision too because she has wanted to choose a product with a company that could benefit the local economy.
Then, the actual installation process was pretty much seamless. NC Solar Now gave her estimated timelines for each step of the process in advance, and nonetheless, made rapid progress than expected. Once the panels had been installed, her utility came out and her meter was changed out. Power was immediately produced with no interruption of service, and she could keep a track of how much power each panel was producing right away.
I avidly recommend solar panels to everyone who visits my house….People ask about the solar power system all the time when they come to my place. I give them an in-depth walkthrough of it, and they are always fascinated to understand more about solar–how easy and efficient it is. Many people are interested in solar, but they don’t quite understand how it works and why it’s cost effective. They also don’t know how much electricity a solar power system will produce in the long run.
Benefits
During summer, Laurel usually paid about $200 per month for electricity, but it was down to $42 last August. There has been a meaningful drop by 75%, given the fact electric bills are higher in summer with air conditioning. Once summer ends, her electric bill will gradually down that she expects it to be even lower to $20.
The biggest benefit of installing a solar power system is a sense of security. Even when power outages happen due to severe weather, power is available all the time. And I take pride that I’m doing my best for my children’s future and safety. It feels like I have become a better person.
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