For most people, installing a rooftop solar system might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – usually, that’s all it takes. Solar energy systems last 25 years or longer and with regular maintenance they’ll often churn out power for another 25. But Robert B of New Braunfels, TX, is now on his fourth solar system, his first from Longhorn Solar.
Robert and his wife have moved around a lot, and everywhere they go, their home is powered by the sun.
After several years living everywhere from Hawaii to Florida, the couple settled down in beautiful New Braunfels, Texas. Their back porch looks out onto an expansive cattle ranch, where a herd of longhorns often roam by.
On a recent scorching summer day, Robert explained his reasons for installing solar plus battery backup. He simply doesn’t want to be caught without power. That happened to the couple in Florida, when Hurricane Ian took out their power for nearly a week.
They’ve lived in Texas before, so they’re no strangers to the heat. But what they were really wanting to prepare for was the devastating winter storms Texas has been experiencing over the last few years.
“We do realize that in Texas, we have ice storms. We do not want to be put into a situation where we do not have the ability to live comfortably when the grid is shut off.”
With three other systems under his belt, Robert has done his homework on solar. He’s looked at all the options, and even figured out exactly how much power he’d likely need for the New Braunfels house. But when he called around to talk to some local solar companies, he found that they didn’t really want to listen to his plan. They wanted to sell him something he didn’t need.
So he was pleasantly surprised when he talked to Jameson at Longhorn. There was no sales pitch or presentation, instead Jameson wanted to hear what Robert had in mind. He gave some input, drew up a proposal, and let it go at that.
When Robert was ready to greenlight his solar project, he knew who to call. Jameson had a crew out to Robert’s house just eight days later. There was no hassle, and no runaround. Just a hard-working crew that showed up early and stayed late to make sure the system would be up and running in less than 72 hours.
Robert’s system includes 40 solar panels (REC 420 watt each), providing a total of 16.8 kW of onsite solar energy, and two Tesla Powerwall 3s. The Powerwalls charge the couple’s EVs and store backup power for those hot summer “grid events” and winter storm outages. All told, the system can generate 103% of the home’s expected energy use (the overage is a good buffer when putting solar on a new home with no past energy history).
For Robert, system number four might be the optimally designed solar-plus-storage system of his dreams. But more importantly, it’s reassurance that his home will be protected life’s unexpected grid events.
Learn more about Robert’s experience, see the final system, and learn a few tips on Tesla Powerwalls, here.
