We looked at going solar but decided it wasn’t ready for us, because unless you get a battery, it doesn’t provide power when the grid is down (and even then, you’re running off of battery, not solar). It wasn’t even clear that the batteries would get recharged during an extended outage so you’d need several to cover you during that time.
It’s also a bit frustrating that my primary reason for going solar is environmental, yet the pitch and the set up is focused on “lowering your electric bill.” While I’m not so crazy that having lower electric bills and even reselling excess to the provider isn’t part of a good reason to go solar, it just changes the focus of how the system works from what I primarily care about. In fact, when the guy from the company asked me why I wanted to go solar and I said, “because I’m a tree hugger,” he was surprised and said no one had ever said that to him before.
So we’re sticking with our provider’s “green” plan for now. Unfortunately, this can mean lots more than wind and solar. It could include geothermal, hydroelectricity, and biomass and biofuels. That’s not exactly what I consider “green.” The “Fact sheet” each provider supplies will only say that they are whatever percentage renewable without listing any of the sources. They could be 100% biodiesel for all I know.