How Does Solar Work?
Explained so simply a 5-year-old could follow along. Solar is changing fast, and honesty can be hard to come by. This is how it all really works.
Free · No obligation · Takes 30 seconds
Solar is not a scam. It helps people save a lot, over both the short term and the long term. But…
Obviously, we can't just stop using electricity from the grid overnight. So let's look at how this actually works.
The bill, decoded
First, what are you actually paying for?
Your electric bill isn't one charge. It's a few stacked together, and only one of them is the electricity.
Service Fee
A rental fee for the meter on the side of your house. This one never goes away, solar or not. (About $9.62/mo in most CT towns.)
Supply
The electricity itself.
Delivery + Public Benefits
Fees to move the electricity to you, charged whether it arrives on time or not. And “public benefits”… we'll come back to that one.
You're not charged once for electricity.
You're charged twice.
Once for the power. Once again in fees.
How solar works
We design a system that produces your supply using the sunlight and roof space you already have.
The MORE supply you pull from the grid → the MORE fees you pay.
The LESS supply you pull from the grid → the LESS fees you pay.
Your meter can spin both ways.
Extra power goes back to the grid and builds a bank of credits. You spend those credits at night, on rainy days, in winter.
You stop being just a consumer. You become a producer.
The 5 questions everyone asks. Answered honestly.
“What happens to my roof?”
Panels actually keep your house cooler in summer by absorbing sunlight before it hits your roof. And every roof gets surveyed first. If your roof doesn't qualify, no panels go up. Period.
“What happens if I move?”
It transfers with the home, the same way your Eversource account would, and the next owner inherits a fixed electricity cost. That's added home value, not a complication.
“How much does it cost?”
Here's the honest answer: the money you already send the utility company every month gets redirected into the system instead. A federally incentivized program covers the engineering and construction upfront. If the math doesn't work with your current bill, it doesn't happen. Simple as that.
“Who maintains it?”
The installer is on the hook to fully maintain and monitor the system for 25 years, and you can watch it yourself from an app, 24/7/365.
“How do I save money?”
Most people don't go solar for day-one savings. They do it for control and predictability, turning a bill that only goes up into a fixed cost that never does.
Why your rates keep climbing
Here's the part almost nobody notices in year one. But everyone notices it by year five.
Utility rates in CT rise 4–5% every year.
Connecticut hasn't seen a single-digit rate increase in years.
Utility companies aren't a normal business. Their customers are landlocked. You never chose Eversource, your town did. They can't win customers from each other.
Every home that goes solar means less revenue for them. But their costs don't shrink. So what's their only move? Raise rates on everyone still paying.
Remember “Public Benefits” on your bill? You're not paying other people's bills. You're paying to keep the utility operational as their customer base shrinks. They just don't call it a rate hike.
Remember the $5 footlong? It's $12 now. Electricity works the same way. You just don't see the menu.
It's control and predictability that turns your electricity into an asset instead of a liability.
You know exactly what you pay every month, instead of gambling on how much more they'll charge you next.
How much do you lose by staying with the utility company?
Not the heart-attack bill. Not the low one. The honest average.
$200/mo
In 5 years
–$13,130
In 10 years
–$29,492
Over the panel warranty (25 yrs)
–$106,957
What would you do with that money back in your pocket?
The honest part
What's the catch?
Here's the catch: not everyone qualifies. Roughly 2 out of 3 homes don't. Roof condition, roof direction, shading, usage, and credit all factor in. It's a program you have to qualify for.
1. Redirection
The money you already pay the utility gets pointed at the system instead.
2. Qualification
Roof, shading, usage, and credit get checked. No fit, no install.
3. Utility Approval
The utility itself has to sign off before anything connects to the grid.
Some CT areas are getting “red-zoned.” The grid in those neighborhoods can't accept more solar, and the utility denies new applications. The only way to know is to check your address.
So, does your home qualify?
Free. No obligation. And if the numbers don't work, we'll tell you that too.