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Going solar-powered may not have completely caught on yet in the Tri-parish area, but for one Houma resident, the decision to go solar was the latest in a series of home upgrades to combat rising electricity costs.
“I started thinking about getting the system installed after power prices went up following Hurricane Katrina,” said Mark Whitney. “I started doing research online and found out about all the tax incentives, especially the state’s. Louisiana’s is one of the highest in the country. It was a no-brainer for me at that point.”
Currently, state residents that install a solar power system on their home can qualify for a 30 percent federal and a 50 percent state tax rebate.
“The cost varies pretty drastically, but for the average three-bedroom, two-bath house, installation averages about $35,000 to $40,000,” said Logan Landry of BLG Solutions in Houma. Landry’s company recently completed the solar system installation on Whitney’s home. “The rebates can knock the price down to as little as $7,000 or less for the average home.”
The company, which was started last August and completed its first solar panel system job in February, installs the two most common solar systems.
“With a grid system, the generated power does not actually power the house but feeds the power back into the line and back to the power company,” Landry said. “There is a special meter on the outside of the house that tracks use and power generated. At the end of the month, the homeowner will either receive a bill credit if the panels generated more energy than the homeowners used or the homeowner will get a lower bill.”
The company also installs battery bank systems for dwellings that do not have a power line connection, like hunting and fishing camps, and the solar panel system charges the batteries for later use.
Landry said that BLG Solutions has installed several grid systems and a few battery bank systems in the Tri-parish area as well as neighboring parishes.
“The Whitney’s system is a 50 percent solar system,” Landry said. “We have only installed one 100 percent system and it is located in Avondale.”
Whitney’s 1,200-square-foot home was built in 1961 and, over the years, he and his wife’s power bills have ranged from $180 to $330 dollars a month.
“Winters were the worst,” Whitney said. “We were tired of crazy high bills and we are doing everything we can to get it down.”
In addition to installing the system, which will ultimately cost the Whitney’s between $5,000 to $6,000, the homeowners had their home re-roofed with lighter shingles, installed a window unit in their bedroom and began shutting off their central air in the evening, replaced all their windows with new double-paned ones and replaced all the light bulbs in their home with LED ones.
“That window unit has paid for itself,” Whitney said. “I hope that the solar panels will also provide some additional savings. When we get our tax credits back next year, we will go 100 percent solar.”
The Whitneys are just waiting on the last step of the solar switch over process – the city’s installation of a meter that will allow the electricity generated by their panels to feed back into the power line.
“Depending on the system, the size of your home, other power sources like gas, the number of people in the home, the times that occupants are there and their activities, homeowners can save $150 to $300 dollars a month on their power bills,” Landry said.
“The cost of electricity is going up every year.”
Landry, originally from Houma, recently returned to the area after working in the solar systems industry in California for the last nine years.
“Power bills are lower here than there for people who have solar systems because power there is expensive,” Landry said. “When the economy nose dived, business there increased.”
Since getting started in Houma, the company has installed most of its solar panel systems on existing homes and is also open to the commercial contracts.
“We have not had any commercial contracts yet,” Landry said. “Residential is more popular because of all the tax incentives. With the tax credits, it takes about five years for the system to pay for itself and you can get the tax credits even if the place is not your primary home.”
Landry said he is also venturing out to work with contractors and homebuilders and the company has five more systems in the paperwork process.
“We get three calls a day for quotes from people who are in the planning stage of building homes,” he said.
Once homeowners or business owners make the decision to go solar, Landry and his team estimate solar readings and shading patterns for the building and help the owners with paperwork for the tax credits.
“Many people do not know about the tax incentives,” Landry said. “Almost everyone we’ve done an estimate for goes with it after they see the proposal for the system.”
Installation of a system takes two to three days and three to four workers to complete.
“It seems and looks complicated, but it’s not,” Landry added. “The system is guaranteed for 25 years on parts and labor and there are no moving parts. About the worst thing that can happen to the system are bird droppings and we offer free monitoring and maintenance. If anything happens to someone’s system, I will get an alert on my phone.”
Landry’s one maintenance concern is what could happen to the systems during the hurricane season.
“The panels are hurricane rated for 140 mph wind and bolted to rafters in the house,” Landry said.
BLG Solutions also plans to offer its solar systems on a lease basis in the future.
Gulf breeze not enough to drive another source
As great as solar works, most agree wind power doesn’t in south Louisiana.
“There is not enough wind down here to install a wind system,” said Expert Renovations owner Roy Mendelssohn. “They may be good on the coast during the night and in the spring. We have not installed any of these systems, but I have had a few calls about them.”
Mendelssohn’s company, based in Houma, also installs residential and commercial grid and battery bank solar systems in the Tri-parish area.
“We’re not one of the bigger contractors,” Mendelssohn said. “We’ve only done four homes and a fishing camp in the last five years. It really hasn’t caught on here yet, but it’s very popular in Europe.”
According to Mendelssohn, the price tag on outfitting a three bedroom, two bath home with the company runs from $25,000 to $29,000 before the state and federal tax credits.
“Lots of people show interest but it is usually more money than they want to spend at the time,” Mendelssohn said. “If you have a big enough grid system, you could actually make money by selling power to the power company.”
For those who aren’t sure about making a solar system purchase, Mendelssohn recommended one small solar solution.
“I’ve installed one solar water heater,” he said. “That saves a lot of money without having to go totally solar.”
Like Landry, Mendelssohn said solar system owners can cut their power bill in half and the system will pay for itself in about five years. Three to four workers can also complete the installation in a couple of days.
“There is a 20-year manufacturers warranty on parts and installation and there is not much upkeep besides occasionally cleaning the glass,” Mendelssohn said. “We have had very few problems with our systems, even after a hurricane. They are hurricane rated to withstand 140 mile per hour winds.”
Mark and Michelle Whitney of Houma are some of the city’s first homeowners to have solar panels intalled on their home. The system, which provides half the couple’s power needs, will cost the couple less than $6,000 after state and federal tax credits, and they plan to go 100 percent solar in the next few years.
