Kerry Smith and his wife Julie, moved to Minnesota from Texas in November 2010 in the midst of a snowstorm. Julie had taken a job at 3M and they quickly found a house (they looked at 23 houses in 1 day!) and settled into a new life in Woodbury. Kerry is a retired “ee” (electrical engineer) who had worked previously in the Telecom Industry. He had always been interested in solar, and had even taken a class in 1970 at the University of Texas. Now in their new home, “it seemed time to jump off the deep end and add solar,” remarked Kerry.
Kerry found Applied Energy Innovations on Service Magic and intended to start with a small system—two panels. But after working with Steve Haslach and working out all the rebates and incentives, the Smiths now have eleven panels and a tracker in their yard (the way things worked out, Kerry figures he got two panels for free.)
For their home, roof mounted panels were not an option, but the tracker “is fun to play with, and I am working on creating a remote for it.” Kerry also enjoys the Enphase/Envoy, which allows him to monitor his usage and see his carbon offset every day. As of December 20, the carbon offset is 557lbs or equal to 6 trees, which created enough energy to power 12 houses for 1 day. The system went online on October 1. Click here to check it out!
When asked about AEI, Kerry remarked, “You guys are ambitious, hardworking, and a delight to work with. AEI may be new and small, but you don’t let that stop you from doing a first-class project.” His hope is that someday solar will be as common as indoor plumbing – integrated into every new construction project.
Kerry has fulfilled his dream of having solar on his home and has a new toy to keep him busy during the long Minnesota winters. Read Kerry’s perspective and his financial analysis of his install. Kerry is happy to answer questions about his system. You can contact him via email.
See photos from the install in slideshow below, or here on Flickr.
About the author: Jessica Ward-Denison works on communications for Applied Energy Innovations. AEI is a locally owned mechanical, plumbing & general contractor that installs and specializes in renewable and energy-efficient building integration. AEI is more than just a business—we are an organization invested in developing the green economy.
