Renae Hesselink is the first in West Michigan homeowner to sign up for the program and just completed her panel install Monday May 19^th. Renae served as the past Chair of the US Green Building Council West Michigan (USGBCWM) and is a local sustainability leader.

Tell us about the process

“Finally after months of waiting, mostly due to the weather, Srinergy along with a local electrician team has  installed the 5Kw solar system on my home. I will be sharing the entire journey soon. I will have access via the web to see what my panels are generating by hour, by day, by week, month, annually. My goal is to help educate the many people out there that solar does work in Michigan and it is affordable. It should produce nearly the amount of electricity that I use on an annual basis with a return on investment”

“I turned on my solar panels around 5:00 p.m. on May 23rd – that was roughly 25 days ago. To date it has produced 554.9 Kwh an average of 23+  Kwh per day. From mid-April until Mid-May I used 434 total Kwh of electricity.  This system has produced above and beyond what I will use in a month’s time for sunnier months so far.”

What is the Pay back? 

“My Solar PV will have an estimated return on investment of close to 10 years, increase my home value and allow me to take part in the sustainability movement to get away from fossil fuels”.

What about your home energy use?

Before going solar Renae worked with to get home energy audit and a Residential Energy Performance Score and is currently looking at ways to improve her energy efficiency and comfort.

Renae currently is the Vice President of Sustainability at Nichols in Muskegon and is exploring this application for their corporate headquarters and distribution centers.

Stay tuned for case studies 

Here is a photo of the first panel going up