In 2025, Michael set out to have solar installed on his home in Robbinsville, NJ. Upon setting out on his quest for information and quotes, Michael experienced confusion. With competing information on the web and significant differences in quotes from one company to another, Michael took to Reddit to try to figure it out. By posting on Reddit, Michael was able to create a forum where New Jersey homeowners could find each other, share their experiences, and participate in transparent and productive conversions.
“If you sort of boil it down, I think everyone should have solar, especially if you’re going to live in your house for a long time. It’s a big math problem. When you go through and look at the numbers, the payback period is what – six to eight years?! We’re gonna live in this house for a while. Electricity prices are going up, the cost of everything is going up. After you pay off the system, you have free electricity for the life of the system, which is 25 or 30 years, or probably even longer than that. But it made sense for us being here with a growing family, wanting to get electric vehicles, wanting to upgrade our home HVAC system. It just made a lot of sense when we’re looking at our long-term life plan with the house.”
“There were a lot of things to consider. It was really hard, especially as an uneducated consumer, to become educated and figure out the ins and outs, the different payment options, the loans, cash financing, and all of the different components that go into purchasing a solar system. I used social media and posted on Reddit, where I got like 100,000 views from people going through the same problem. I was trying to figure out the best type of solar system for me, the best way to finance it, and it seemed like there were a lot of scammy companies out there trying to sell unnecessary things. I understood the financial aspect more than the actual solar components. So when salespeople came to my house and said a system that cost $30,000 would become $50,000 because of upfront loan fees, that was a giant red flag. Public Service Solar didn’t do that. Tony, the salesperson I worked with, went through everything straight with me. He laid out the financing and all of the purchase options very clearly, with no hidden fees, no surprises, no confusing lease options, and no prepayment penalties. He was a straight shooter, which made it really easy to purchase the system. I also eliminated companies because they were pushing leases, and others because they were using SolarEdge components and I wanted Enphase components. I liked that Public Service Solar was local to my area, about 20 miles from the warehouse in Burlington, and I got strong recommendations from people in New Jersey on Reddit.”
“Installation was easy. The only delay had nothing to do with Public Service Solar—it was my township. There was about a two or three week delay because the paperwork basically didn’t get moved from one desk to the other. Once I went in and asked the question, they walked the piece of paper over, it was approved that day, and I was on the books to get installed within the next couple of weeks. Installation itself was super easy. It took one day. Everyone was super professional, everyone knew what they were doing, and the foreman managing the project was awesome. Luckily my installation was pretty easy. I just have one array, one rectangle above the garage, and my electric panel is a straight shot down, so they made a couple holes in the attic to hide the wiring and the conduit went straight down to the outside electric box. I also upgraded my interior panel, and they got everything hooked up by 3 or 4 o’clock. They came at 8 o’clock in the morning, and everything was done by the afternoon. It was great, it was easy.”
“It’s been great. I’ve only been installed about three or four months. Installation was done at the end of November, I got permission to operate at the end of December, and then I started net metering and bill credits with that bill in December at the end of January. The only thing for me to do is check the app and look at my production every day. I see what I’m producing, I see what I’m exporting, and I have my bill now for $4 a month, which is just the general connection fee to JCP&L. For the four months that I’ve had it, it’s been excellent. It’s been easy. Everything is good. I really haven’t had anything, and hopefully you guys won’t hear from me that often, because hopefully it’ll just work for the next 25 years. The only time you’ll hear from me is when I want to get more.”
“Haha, already have. Through the referral app, our neighbors talk. Those two houses down there—one of them did have a consultation with you. The other one went a different way, but at least they chatted. If you’re planning on living in your house for an extended period of time, it’s just a no brainer. If you look at the numbers, the dollars, the cents, the math—yes, I think everyone should have solar if you plan on living in your house and owning your home for a while. So 100% enthusiastically, yes.”
To learn more about how Public Service Solar helps homeowners gain energy independence, click below.
Location: Downingtown, PA
Monthly savings & income: $414.33
Senthilkumar signed up for solar with Public Service Solar in September of 2023, and was installed in November. He received his approval to operate in December. We caught up with…
Get a free estimate now to see the costs and savings from powering your home with solar.