There's a solar company in Rochester offering what it says is the first product of its type in the region. Sustainable Energy Developments has been putting up solar arrays throughout the region, and now they are offering people who don't want to have the solar panels on their homes, a chance to buy solar energy.
The Wayne County company is partnering with a Vermont firm called SunCommon to allow customers to sign up to get solar energy as part of their power consumption, which CEO Kevin Schulte says generally has been cheaper than what you would get through a regular electric utility.
He says their product should appeal to customers who want both the environmental and economic benefit.
“We believe that we’re at a point in the history of the solar industry where all of those that believe and wanted solar because of its sort of ‘greenness’ because of its benefit to our planet are now being aided forward by the fact that it’s also cost effective…whether you’re in an apartment or a condo or whether you just have a big old maple tree to the south side of your home and don’t want to remove that, you have the opportunity now to go solar, in the absence of actually installing the modules on your roof,” Schulte told WXXI News.
Schulte says they do ask customers to sign a 20-year contract, which he says is needed for this business model to work. But he says customers can get out of the contract for a relatively modest fee.
Schulte says right now the solar produced energy will be cheaper than the traditional electricity cost, although he says the rate will vary since electricity rates fluctuate
