Subscriber Profiles – Di of Colorado Springs, an Original SunShare Adopter

When Di Graski and her husband first tried to go solar several years ago, they looked into installing rooftop panels at their home in Colorado Springs.

“We called a solar installer and had him come to look at our roof and do the math and figure out whether we were in a good site,” she said. “We discovered that we aren’t in a good place for rooftop solar. We were so bummed. We thought that was the end of it.”

Then they heard about SunShare.

“We’ve been customers since 2012,” she said. The suitability of their roof for solar no longer mattered. “SunShare can find the right site for the panels and we get the benefit of what the panels generate.”

Graski said solar power covers all their energy needs during the summer months, including running their evaporative cooler and charging their electric car.

“When we joined SunShare, it suddenly made sense to have an electric car,” she said. “In the past it didn’t make sense to replace gasoline with coal to power our car. Now that we’re generating solar, we are hardly contributing to our carbon footprint at all anymore.”

Graski said they’re “not quite 100 percent solar in the winter,” but they’re close.

Graski and her husband chose solar energy because of their concern for the environment. But even for people who don’t share their commitment to clean energy, there are strong economic reasons for supporting community solar.

“Colorado Springs is generating power with an aging coal-fired facility downtown,” she said. “Our energy needs are growing rapidly and we either must bring alternative energy onto the grid or we’ll have to build expensive new power plants to meet peak demands.

“Clean, affordable solar puts more energy on the grid at peak times.”

Graski was amazed at how easy it was to go solar with SunShare.

“The SunShare staff is just excellent at managing the set-up with Colorado Springs Utilities,” she said. “They shielded us from the bureaucracy.”

Once enrolled, all Graski and her husband had to do was watch the savings accumulate.

“It’s so easy,” said Graski. “SunShare has been fantastic to work with.”