Message to Our Customers
There are vendors in the solar industry that will approach you about making an investment with solar on your homes as a way to almost eliminate your power bill. However, not all vendors are as forthcoming with the whole picture. We respect that some of you want to support green initiatives regardless of the cost, but most are investing with the expectation of a return on your investment (ROI).
We ask that if you are considering solar, please contact us before signing a contract. To speak with someone at MU on your upcoming solar project, call 423-317-6397 or email solar@musfiber.com.
As well as speaking with MU, below are links to a TVA educational site as well as two applications/calculators that can provide you with guidance on solar installation benefits. If you use these, enter $0.10 per kWh for the evaluation.
There are other options to go green without making any investment such as TVA’s Green Switch where you can buy blocks of renewable energy for as little as $2 per month. Visit TVA’s Green Switch Page.
TVA and MU Solar Facts
- There are no incentives being offered by MU or TVA. Homeowners and businesses need to check with government agencies for tax incentives. (irs.gov & dsireusa.org)
- MU, per contract, cannot purchase power produced by any party except TVA.
- MU is not working with nor endorsing any solar or renewable companies at this time.
- MU Encourages BTM (Behind The Meter) installations if installed by a NABCEP certified technician. There is no fee for this, but there are a few papers to complete.
- ALL BTM solar installations must be reported to MU as we have anti-theft meters that report any power flow as usage. This means any excess power generated and not used onsite will be charged to the homeowner as usage. MU must change your meter before solar connection!
- DPP (Diversified Power Production) is the only program TVA has to purchase power. They only pay an average of $0.02 per kWh and at that price; a solar purchase cannot be financially justified. There is a monthly $8 fee to be on this program and requires study.
- DPP example: a 3.5 kW install would only generate 5460 kWh/year for a payback of $109/year at $0.02 per kWh! if the system costs $20,000 than payback would be 183 years! (https://pvwatts.nrel.gov , https://edt.tva.gov/ )
- If one wants to install solar for their own usage and then be paid for the excess via DPP, they should call 423-317-6397 BEFORE purchasing.
- For the systems already installed on MU system, the average pay off for solar is 55 years which does not include maintenance and finance charges!
- Average life of solar panel is 20 years and the inverter is 10-12 years (this is why the above bullet point is so important!).
- To fully realize the financial gains of solar, one must have high usage during the solar generation times (during the sunlight hours). For someone working full time during generation times, storage is required. Otherwise, the generation is wasted.