Power for the Pacific Northwest

Solar in Kitsap?!

We’ve all heard those annoying ads that offer solar for “NO MONEY DOWN” or even “NO COST!” They say that “the government is paying people to go solar,” but this is your “last chance!” While these ads may not be incorrect (technically) they are definitely incomplete, because there’s too much about solar that doesn’t fit in a sound bite.

So let’s skip the sound bite. Let’s have a conversation.

Solar works in the PNW if you use the right technology, and that technology has arrived just in time. Like it or not, the current power grid is failing, and we owe it to ourselves to find out what our options will be in the new system. There are a lot of benefits to early adoption, but whether you've joined us early or late, the energy revolution is upon us. With a little planning, we can each chart our way to a brighter, more prosperous, and more sustainable future.


  • Solar is the only real option for private residential-scale production, so that private citizens and businesses can generate their own electricity. Utility-scale production doesn’t help us solve the problem of a failing grid. While there may be residential wave, wind and biofuel options in the future, solar has been available at the residential scale for decades.

  • I help people go solar in the whole of Washington state and even beyond, but my heart remains here where the mountains meet the sea. Kitsap has unique advantages and challenges when it comes to solar, and there’s special technology needed here. This is my home, so I want to be what it needs.

  • The energy revolution is upon us, whether we like it or not. Tax credits are as good as they have ever been, net metering is running out, and the best financing may have disappeared for good. There will never be a better chance to take control of your power and chart a course to energy independence while you have all these options available.

  • While I disagree with how they are saying it, those ads are talking about something amazing: zero-down financing that will match your current electric bill, so that your monthly expenses don’t change. While such financing is a good option for most people and I do offer it myself, just calling it “no cost” causes too much confusion.

  • This is another area where sound bites just don’t work. There are a number of ways the government encourages solar—tax credits, rapid depreciation, USDA REAP grants and more—but they may not all apply to your situation. Those commercials are pushing a single solution where people use the tax credit to pay down the financed payments on the panels, but there are many people who don’t fit this situation.

  • “Last chance” is not a term I would use. “Best chance” fits better, but still warrants an explanation that doesn’t fit into a YouYube commercial. These ads are trying to say that you need to go solar before the net metering contracts change, so that you can be grandfathered in at the best possible rate.