The power we generate will reduce your VEC bill. In a perfect world, the solar power produced would always meet your needs. In that case, a $200 VEC bill would become a $30 VEC bill and a $153 Skylight Solar bill, totalling $183.

Realistically, solar panels generate more power in the summer months, and little-to-none in the winter months. For that reason, we recommend signing up for enough power to over-produce in the summer — so you "pre-buy" some power. Credits generated in the summer will stay in your VEC account for 12 months.

By looking at your VEC bill, which has your usage history from the past year, we can help you right-size your Skylight Solar generation. Production will likely be within a few percentage points of our estimates.

On your VEC bill there are two types of charges. The 10-20% discount we offer only applies to electric rates (in yellow), and not customer fees.

Credits are accrued as the sun shines - more in the summer, and less in the winter. Over the course of the year, some bills may be higher than they otherwise would be because of peak solar production generating more credits on your account. Averaged over the course of 12 months, you will save at your discounted rate.

Every month you will receive your VEC bill which will indicate the credits on your account, and a bill from Skylight Solar LLC for the discounted-rate power.

We understand that sometimes it's difficult to pay for extra credits you won't need for another six months. Contact us for extended payment periods on summertime costs higher than your nominal bill.

No hardware changes are required.

You can view the interactive map, here. To be sure though, check your electric bill.

When you sign up, you are assigned a certain fraction of the solar array, according to your power needs. If you over-subscribe, you'll pay for solar credits which expire if unused after a 12-month rolling window.

As a rule of thumb, you can look at your bill and sign up for 90% of your past year's consumption, or more if you're planning significant upgrades. If you still have questions, we're happy to help you plan your energy needs.

If starting in the winter, don't be suprised if you credits don't immediately cover all of your electric demand. Peak solar production is in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, so it may take some time to build up a reserve of credit.

The power flowing to your house is not the same solar power we generate. As the solar field generates power, it goes wherever it is needed at the time, and you get the credit for it on your VEC bill.

When VEC buys power from us, they also buy (and resell) the right to claim they're solar powered. This means that you cannot also claim that your house is solar powered any more than the average VEC power makeup.

Nevertheless, by working with us you are helping make clean energy possible in New England.

Maybe.

Unfortunately, Vermont Net Metering law prohibits customers from being members of multiple community solar projects. Renewable Energy Vermont is working actively to update this legislation, and we hope this will change with an update to Vermont's Renewable Energy Standard.

However, we may be able to work with your current community solar provider to exchange customers so that you can increase your solar proportion.

Unfortunately there are many circumstances when rooftop solar is just not possible - such as too much shade, rooves pointing in the wrong direction, rooves which are not new enough or can't take the load, and so on.

There are some advantages to community solar in not having to maintain your own equipment, manage the install, or pay anything up-front. You can even transfer your power to a new meter within VEC territory if you move. On the downside, you won't own your panels.

Sufficient participation in both income groups will be necessary for the project to go forward. You're welcome to refer a friend and help us launch without delay!

You can download and share or print the following PDF:

Yes, we do accept businesses at a 10% discount rate, so long as the other criteria are met: on VEC territory, and the meter in question is not already enrolled in community solar.

We are open to sale of fractions of the array after five years. There would of course still be some fees for lease, taxes, maintainence, etc. Feel free to let us know in the sign up form if you would be interested in purchasing in the future.

Sadly, we were not fortunate enough to be awarded the hoped-for funding for low-income homeowners for this project. We would still like to pass on some savings however, and will continue to bill existing customers at a 20% discounted rate for the next 12-24 months (depending on energy production & demand).

During that time, we will be looking for new opportunities which may allow us to apply again for the same program, with a goal of serving existing customers (such as yourself) first.

When a solar array is constructed, there are two ways to sell the power: either on the wholesale markets, or on the retail markets.

Almost nobody sells solar power on wholesale markets, as it would fetch cents on the kilowatt due to other power sources being highly subsidized.

Vermont Net Metering law is written to support solar arrays by allowing consumers to contract directly with the solar farm, which is what Skylight Solar does. Without this, solar development would not be possible financially.

We are able to sell power to you at below-market rates, while still making enough to pay off the high upfront cost of solar.

While some solar panels are now made in Net-Zero facilities, unfortunately they still come at a premium, and were not selected for this project. However, these solar panels pay off their carbon footprint within about a year or less of operation, and so still have a very positive effect. Some discussion can be found in the F.A.Q. on this post.

Local stone, rather than concrete, is used for ballasting the array.

We use all-electric mowers for cutting the grass around the array. To any local farmers - we're open to the idea of sheep grazing in the area.

We're proud to have Aegis Renewable Energy as our Engineering, Procurement, and Construction partner.