What does 'qualify' even mean?

There is a common theme that marketers and sales folks in the solar industry use quite a bit.

The concept is that the home and/or the homeowner must ‘qualify’...

On the marketing and sales psychology side of this theme is the ‘take away’ where there’s somewhat of a ‘threat’ that the prospect can’t get solar even if they wanted to. The idea being we all want things we can’t have, so highlighting the ‘take away’ can trigger a lot of desire.

That said, is there really a need to ‘qualify’ to get solar? The answer is essentially yes- but I wouldn’t use the word qualify.

Let’s get into it-

Physical Location- there has to be a place to put the solar panel array where the sun will shine on it. Truth is not every home has a roof that would allow this. If there is nowhere to put the solar panels, a solar power system is pretty much a non-starter.

Electrical grid- the electrical grid can only handle what it is designed to handle. There are limits to how much distributed generation power each individual circuit on the grid can have due to technical reasons. If too many people in your area are already on solar power, it might actually be too late (for now) and you’d have to wait for TEP to upgrade that circuit.

https://www.tep.com/dgir-requirements/

(Update- as of March 2023, TEP stated in a phone call that the electrical grid was updated and there are currently no restricted areas in Tucson.)

Electric Bill- this one is a bit more personal to the individual homeowner. If the electric bill is low already, the financial benefits will be lower versus the cost of the solar power system. If finance is the number one priority, those with average electric bills of like 100 bucks a month, a solar power system might not make sense.

Tax Incentives- Federal tax incentives are not straight forward. The incentive is a tax credit- meaning you get to pay less taxes, not get money back. As long as you have to pay more in taxes than the credit amount, you can take the full credit in that year. If you don’t pay that much in taxes, you can only ‘not pay’ that amount. A discussion with your tax professional, not the solar sales person, is called for here…

There are several other technical design and installation type issues that may preclude your home that might come up during the inspection of the home (electrical system and/or roof condition for example).

All that said, yes- there is some truth that a home and/or homeowner has to ‘qualify’ but don’t let the Sales Bros use that like a cheap ‘influence’ trick to get you chasing after something you can’t have.

If you are scoping out solar power for your Tucson home, I am about to release a new book “Tucson Solar Insider Desk Guide for Buying Solar” and think it is exactly what Tucson homeowners need to arm themselves with all the right info.

Click here to be notified when I release the Tucson Solar Insider Desk Guide for Buying Solar.

Be Good!

Curtis