The Power of Solar In Record Breaking Heat

We no longer need to supercool our house

There are two seasons in Arizona: hot and hotter. That means high electricity bills, especially this past summer, when Phoenix had a record-breaking heat wave with more than 50 days of temperatures higher than 110 degrees.

In this type of weather, running the air conditioner during the day can result in electricity bills upwards of $800 per month. So we adopted the practice of supercooling — turning the AC on high during periods of the day when electricity rates are lower and then keeping it off for the rest of the day. But when you’re in 120 degree weather, it gets uncomfortably warm (even for an Arizonan).

We had been thinking about solar energy for a few years and thought now was a good time to consider it more seriously, especially before the federal tax credit gets reduced again in January 2021. After our friend referred us to Tesla and we learned that Tesla has the lowest prices in the industry, it was a pretty easy decision. Arizona also has its own solar tax credit which reduced the cost of our system even more.

Now, with solar power, we’re able to keep costs down without having to sacrifice our comfort. We activated in the peak of Arizona summer and now we don’t have to supercool – our house is a nice temperature, all day long. It’s all of the energy we need, for the lowest price, and it’s completely sustainable.

Tesla is a company with integrity

I love two things about Tesla’s approach. First, there wasn’t an aggressive sales pitch. We’re frequently contacted by pushy salesmen from various solar companies, but that wasn’t the case with Tesla. Tesla’s online configurator gave us a great overview on the benefits of solar and the process to place an online order was straightforward and simple, and we were never pressured into making a quick decision.

Second, the company has a lot of integrity in how it treats customers. We were almost at the end of our installation when we got a letter notifying us that Tesla had dropped its prices, so the company issued us a refund for the difference. I never would have known otherwise, so for Tesla to proactively do that really stood out to me.

Installation was simple and the end result looks great

The order and installation process was simple and streamlined. I was a bit worried about installation because my husband and I both work and take care of three kids, and I needed the process to run smoothly.

The entire process took a little over two months to complete – installation itself took only a day – and all throughout the process it was easy to keep track of the project status. Tesla takes care of everything, from doing the initial survey to getting permits and approval from the city to turning on the power. Overall, it was a great experience. And, I absolutely love how everything turned out.

Previously I was deterred from transitioning to solar because I didn’t like how panels looked on other roofs, but the visual appeal of Tesla’s product is much better – it’s a very attractive and high quality product that fits in seamlessly with our roof.