I don’t understand why so many people are jumping shark and going gaga over the free solar panel “giveaway” in Las Vegas.  

I say “go big or go home” which means BUY your solar panels – do not lease or rent your roof out and get stuck in long contracts.  These contracts can HURT future home sales as you could lose a pool of buyers who would not want to assume your contract.

There is a potential to save big cash with certain programs Nevada Energy has to offer like the mPowered thermostats and Time of Use (TOU) Program.

The mPowered thermostats are free.  You can set and manage your thermostats from a browser in your PC or Mac or from a mobile app.  You can get more information on the free mPowered thermostats right here.

The “Time of Use” program gives you a super low rate during key fall, winter and spring months.  Then you pay a higher rate during high use (peak) hours (for example between 1-7 PM) during summer months.  If you do not use your home during those hours you can set your air conditioner(s) to not run or at a really high temp during that time frame.  You can also set to circulate your pool outside of those hours.  There are several TOU programs available and you can read about them right here.

The mPowered thermostats and the TOU Program is really a match made in  heaven if you can make conservation work during peak hours.

My household is personally on both of these programs.  During the peak months we pay about 1 cent more a KWH than regular rates because of our ability to conserve.    During winter, fall & spring months we pay 1 cent a  KWH less than Solar City’s PPA.  It rounds out to about the same as Solar City’s PPA – minus the 20 year long contract.

Other ways to save money besides simple conservation:

• Adding solar screens to windows
• Adding retractable shutters to windows

Las Vegas Solar Powered Homes For Sale:

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