Solar in Arizona: Opportunities and risks to know


January 30, 2020 | 3min read

There aren’t many risks when going solar in Arizona. As of the date of this blog post, the state offers a $1,000 tax credit towards the purchase of a solar system. The only real risks are choosing the wrong rate plan from your utility company and you risk an unexpectedly high utility bill if your solar system stops working and you don’t know it. Thankfully, both risks are easy to avoid.

The risk of going solar in Arizona with the wrong rate plan

The rate plan you choose will determine how much you pay for electricity and it will also determine how much you will be paid for the electricity your system generates. Choose the wrong plan and you may pay more than you should, and get less for the power you generate.

The Salt River Project (SRP)

The SRP has four rate plans for solar system-equipped homes. The plan that’s going to be best for you depends on when you use electricity and how much you use. You can save money with a Time-of-Use plan if you are willing to shift your electrical usage as much as possible to off-peak hours. You can also get lower rates if you own an electric vehicle (“EV”). 

You can avoid this risk by discussing your power usage with a Freedom Forever independent authorized dealer. Be sure to talk to them about when you use power so they can recommend the right plan for you. Also, let them know if you have an EV.

Key takeaway: Consider when you use power as well as how much when selecting your SRP solar rate plan. If you can shift some of your power usage to off-peak hours you can save by switching to a time of use plan.

Tucson Electric Power

Tucson Electric Power doesn’t have rate plans specific to solar owners but it does have four different rate plans to choose from. Two of them are Time-of-Use plans. Like all ToU plans, you can save money if you shift your power usage to off-peak hours as much as possible. Two of the plans offer savings if you level out your usage of power. Tucson Electric offers a discounted rate if you own an EV. You may be eligible for a 5% reduction in Base Power and Purchased Power and Fuel Adjustment Clause charges during off-peak time periods if you own an EV.

Key takeaway: You can save money on electricity with Tucson Electric by shifting to a time-of-use plan if you can shift most of your electric usage to off-peak hours. 

What happens if your solar system stops working?

If your solar system stops working your home will draw all of its power needs from the grid. That will cause the next bill you get from your utility company to be higher than expected. Thankfully, this won’t happen to you if you go with Freedom Forever.

You can go solar with confidence with Freedom Forever’s 25-Year Production Guarantee.  Freedom Forever offers a unique solar production guarantee – on TOP of your system’s standard warranty! If your system produces less power than we say it will, you can get a check to cover the difference covered under our 25-year production guarantee!

Once your system is on, it is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If it ever breaks, we’ll make it right. We’ll even reimburse you for any energy production lost from our fault!*

Go solar in Arizona with confidence. Call us at 800-685-1850 or click below to get started

*Subject to terms and conditions of your agreement