With electricity bills on the rise, lakeside residents are increasingly harnessing power from the sun and installing solar panels.
Last Saturday, eSun Energy, which has offices in Ajijic, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, hosted a solar home tour with customers with solar panels opening their doors to curious onlookers.
“The price of electricity keeps going up and the use goes up, so we decided we needed to do something,” said Steve Coffman, the owner of Lolita’s Inn Ajijic. Coffman was paying about 8,000 pesos every two months on power, so he decided to install a 7,500-watt, 30 panel system in October. Now his electricity bills have dropped to 55 pesos.
Coffman said his initial investment was 25,000 dollars and it should take him about 4 ½ years to earn that back. From then on, he’ll get his energy for free.Clearly pleased with the panels, Coffman said: “I mostly love them when I get my electricity bill.”
At another home on the narrow streets Ajijic, eSun demonstrated that panels don’t have to be intrusive and they can even be laid atop Spanish tile. On the roof of a home, the company installed a 6-panel, 1,260-watt panel that’s barely noticeable as it provides shade on a rooftop patio. While some customers enjoy showing neighbors the solar panels, there are those who want to do it more discreetly.
Again and again on the tour, eSun representatives emphasized — while much of Mexico is a great place to install solar panels — Ajijic is particularly well suited for the technology. It enjoys frequent sunny days and isn’t too hot for the panels to function at their best. While the panels do require sun, somewhat counterintuitively, they work less efficiently when the weather gets too hot.
At a home on a steep hill with sweeping views of Lake Chapala, Petr Fibingr and some other tour goers examined a 24-panel, 4,800-watt system. Fibingr has already decided to install a solar panel array and the tour gave him the opportunity to see one that’s already been completed. It’s a great way system for providing a home with power without contamination, he said.
Solar panels have become a more viable option as technology has improved making them more effective, said eSun project manager Eric Napoles. At the same time, increasing competition between manufacturers has brought costs down for homeowners.
At his house overlooking the lake in Upper La Foresta, Randy Coburn said he decided to install panels because he too was staring down an 8,000-peso bill every other month. After putting in a 30-panel, 3,290-watt system, Coburn said his energy costs have dropped to zero. The decision makes financial sense and Coburn said it allows him to use less polluting energy sources.
“When you think of the power I’m creating, I’m not creating any environmental impact,” Coburn said.