When retiree Jacques Morrise installed solar panels at his Millington home in 2021, he knew he probably wouldn’t see a return on his $62,000 investment.

Memphis Light, Gas and Water tells customers it’ll take at least 25 years to see savings from new residential solar panels, even with federal tax credits. That’s why MLGW offers an option that allows customers to purchase blocks of solar power generated elsewhere instead. 

But Morrise made the leap and installed enough solar panels to power his home, often with some electricity left over to sell back to the Tennessee Valley Authority at the wholesale rate. 

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Solar panels had been on Morrise’s radar for years, but he hadn’t been able to justify the expense. When he revisited the idea a few years ago, however, he was convinced that he should move forward on the project due to now lower costs, a federal tax credit and his own environmental ideals. 

“We have grandchildren and think about what kind of world we’re giving them,” Morrise said.

It didn’t hurt that solar panels would also give Morrise and his wife a backup power supply during the area’s power outages, too. 

“I thought maybe solar panels could provide a source of backup power that would be always ready, and when we were not using them for backup, they would still help lower our family’s carbon footprint a little,” he said. 

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The number of houses with solar power in the U.S. has increased about 30% since 2021, when Morrise installed panels at home. About 0.06% of MLGW customers — fewer than 300 residential customers in the county — have solar panels. 

They are rare for a reason. The upfront installation costs are high, and residents’ return on investment is literally decades away. But uncertainty and confusion about how to install solar might be at play, too.

One of the 300 or so MLGW customers with solar panels is Memphis City Council member Dr. Jeff Warren. He opted for the same set-up as Morrise, one with a battery so his home can stay online during power outages and with enough panels that he can sell excess power to TVA.

“It seemed like it was a good environmental thing to do,” Warren said. 

But for both Warren and Morrise, the process took longer and was even more complicated than they expected.

Flipping the switch

“I feel like there’s a real dearth of knowledge about how the systems work, because they’re pretty complicated,” Morrise said.

If someone in Shelby County wants to install solar panels at home and generate renewable energy, they have to apply to one of three programs through MLGW. 

There’s the self-generation option, which sends any excess power back to MLGW’s grid without paying the homeowner for it. 

Then, there’s the dispersed power production option. Under this plan, customers can sell all or part of the power they generate to the TVA. This is an option for people who own vacant land, since they’re not required to consume any of the electricity they produce under this plan. 

Or, customers can opt for a third program that combines elements of the other two, which is what both Morrise and Warren did. About 150 people are enrolled in this plan, making it the most popular option among MLGW customers.

A residential solar panel system costs between $16,000 and $23,000, on average, so MLGW encourages customers to make their homes as efficient as possible before investing tens of thousands of dollars in solar.

“If you finance your solar project, remember that you really are lowering one expense (your MLGW bill) while adding a second expense (loan payment),” MLGW said in a statement. “So, it likely will be 25 years or more before you see true savings.”

Using a TVA calculator, people can estimate how many years it’ll take to see a return on their solar investment, based on the money they save from power bills and the money they earn from selling extra power to TVA at the wholesale rate.

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Panels and installation cost Morrise about $30,000, but he decided to add battery storage, doubling the price tag. Given the number of outages when his backup solar supply kicked in before he even noticed the lights flicker, he said it was worth the investment.

He kickstarted the process by reviewing his energy usage data for the past two years. Demand changes drastically based on a few factors, including weather, so customers can see how much electricity they used in 30-minute increments over the past 24 months through MLGW’s My Account tool. 

Ideally, MLGW says at-home solar panels should provide most of your daytime electricity needs with minimal export to the grid, since excess power is sold to TVA below the retail rate.

“There are periods when the air conditioning is on, and we’re just making enough to run the whole house,” Morrise said. “But most of the time, we’re making enough and a little extra.”

On the panel

Once Morrise had a better idea of how much power his house needed — and thus how many solar panels — he started looking for someone to install the system. At the time, he had trouble finding a local contractor, and his research led him to a Little Rock-based company called Sunpro Solar, which has since been bought by ADT.

MLGW urges people to find an installer who’s certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners and to check multiple references, especially with customers who installed solar systems more than a year ago. If an installer tries to start construction before the utility has approved the application, MLGW says to be wary. TVA also has a database of vetted contractors. 

Morrise’s project took about six months, starting in June 2021. At times, it was frustrating, which he mostly attributes to turnover at the company and post-COVID supply chain issues. He didn’t realize how many electrical boxes would have to be installed on the side of his house and how noticeable they would be. 

In September 2021, crews arrived and installed the panels on the roof in a day.

The only potential delay Morrise had expected was the battery delivery, which had been back-ordered. But when electricians arrived, they realized there had been a miscommunication about how much of the house would be included on the system and they had to order more parts. 

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By the time those parts arrived, along with the smart meter and batteries, Thanksgiving was approaching, and Morrise worried the project wouldn’t be done by year-end to claim his federal rebate.

But crews got the system online in the final week of 2021, avoiding that issue. 

Morrise was also surprised by how many electrical boxes had to be installed on the side of his house.

Warren had a similar experience. The process took longer than expected, and there were a number of challenges. 

Regardless of hiccups throughout the project, Morrise is glad he added solar panels, but he realizes that most people don’t have the motivation — and more often, the upfront money — to install solar panels on their houses. 

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In June of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $7 billion that will enable low-income and disadvantaged communities more access to solar, and since Morrise installed his solar panels, Congress has raised the federal tax credit to 30%.

And even that isn’t enough if a person isn’t concerned about the environment. 

“I would be in the position of generating power at my expense, selling the excess to TVA at the (wholesale rate) and still paying full retail if I did use any power from the grid,” he said. “It was a tough concept to swallow, but I got over it.”