Beware of Green Energy Savings! In an industry like solar energy where the public remains skeptical, manufactures come and go and start up or individual companies seem to be popping up and expanding everywhere. From Negril and Mo-Bay down to Kingston – everyone is hopping on the solar train.
All most all are offering freedom from JPS’s ever rising electrical rates and yet truth be told home owners and businesses return on investment most likely will be far and away from anything these green energy saving companies claim.
For example, I recently read a report from a Jamaica green energy start up company promising a homeowner freedom from JPS with a payback as little as 3.5 years away. The report claims their 5,000-watt system would replace all 1,500-kilowatt hours of JPS monthly supplied power.
First of all this is simply not possible – unless these are magic panels unheard of by even NASA that is. Back on earth, this system would likely never make 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per month let alone 1,500 and certainly not manage the nighttime load – less they are magic lunar panels bought from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk.
The author of the green energy savings report included a bill of materials for the install that was a combination of grid tied and off grid components. I was astonished to see this knowing the system would never work and could cause a fire in the home.
To put it all into perspective that is like putting aluminum foil in a microwave oven.
What I found additionally disturbing is the green energy money saving report stated all workers would be “Certified” Solar Technicians. Only a very few companies in the world can actually certify someone in this industry so even this part is bogus too.
USSolar Institute has helped with over 1,500 persons from around the world get the proper training, education and certifications required to perform properly in this solar industry and even those with only one day of training certainly knows better than to make such outrageous claims. In fact to help Jamaica, USSolar Institute recently announced a branch campus in Kingston, Jamaica allowing access to proper green energy education for all Jamaicans.
It saddens me more because I personally know the author of the bogus report and have witnessed this type of behavior again and again. People like this are only holding back what should be a solar revolution in Jamaica.
As a licensed and certified professional solar professor, engineer, contractor and installer, I’m happy to see good competition in the market place as everyone comes face-to-face with the invisible hand of economics. When you make outrageous promises, produce inferior quality; sooner or later market forces will converge to take you down.
But as someone who champions solar energy and wants to see it spread like wildfire, I feel bad for all of those unsuspecting home and business owners who are considering or have hired unqualified persons, bought cheap solar panels and equipment only to find out the green energy salesman was actually without proper knowledge and integrity in the first place. I cringe just thinking about those the “good guys” who will never get a chance to help.
In our quest to source the highest quality solar packages from leading manufacturers around the globe, USSolar Jamaica closely follows stories like these. And what we’ve discovered is that this is not an isolated cautionary tale.
If you want the finest equipment, installed by the most professional contractors at the lowest price then please contact USSolar and get ready to have your expectations exceeded.
About USSolar
USSolar is a globally diversified solar energy corporation with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and offices, dealers, and partners around the world. USSolar remains dedicated to comprehensive solar education and consulting services by providing global construction management, engineering, and financing solutions for virtually any sized project or system need.