Jim Picardi has always focused on environmentally conscious building and energy practices, both in his business and his home.

“As a college student I studied environmental economics. As a self-employed cabinet maker, I work with environmentally friendly building materials, including sustainably harvested woods and low or no VOC finishes.
“I’ve had this house for 20 years, I’ve mostly built it myself and we always did what we could with finances and technology. I designed it to be a solar house, it has perfect southern exposure, and it’s well insulated and easy to heat.”

Jim shopped around and did extensive research on solar.

“I had always assumed we would install solar hot water. Twenty years later, solar panels made more sense given the incentives and the ability to sell back to the grid.
“I considered leasing my panels at first, but the more research I did, I realized there were more advantages to owning. I received bids from several installers, but I went with Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics in part because they introduced me to Sungage. Sungage made it possible to pull it off, it was a no-brainer.”

Pioneer Valley Photovoltaics worked with Jim to make the most of his multi-leveled roof.

“My solar system’s capacity is projected to generate about 25% more electricity than we use. Even with all of these machines in my workshop.”

Even for an educated consumer like Jim, having a partner like Sungage made going solar easier.

“Solar is so new, my local bank just didn’t understand it. There was sketchy information available about what the solar panels would do to my property tax. Sungage worked through all of the details with me.
“If I had to give advice to anyone considering solar, I’d say if the numbers can work for you, now is the time.”