David Stebbins lives in a condo in Bonita Springs, so he never thought he could have solar panels. Then, he got an email from Florida Power & Light that caught his eye.
"All you had to do was sign up. There was no cost upfront," Stebbins said.
It was for FPL's Solar Together program. Stebbins pays a monthly subscription fee of about $14, and in return, he gets about $13 in credits applied to his electric bill. Your subscription prices fluctuate depending on how much power you want to receive credits for.
"Those credits build over time so that eventually they surpass your subscription cost," said Florenica Oliveira, a spokesperson for FPL.
Oliveira said the average customer breaks even after about seven years and then starts saving money on their bills. The program has benefits that you wouldn't get if you put solar panels on your roof.
"This is a great program for renters or those who may not be in their forever home because it's a program you can transfer and bring with you as long as you're an FPL customer," Oliveira said.
So, why does FPL offer the program? Ben Zientara, who writes for solarreviews.com, believes one of the main reasons is for public relations.
"They can make it look like they're having people support solar directly while continuing to build out generation capacity that they would have built out anyways," Zientara said.
Zientara said the program can save you money, but not nearly as much as if you put solar panels on your roof. He estimates that an 11-kilowatt system through the Solar Together program would save you approximately $5,600 over the course of 30 years. If you put solar panels on your roof, he said you could save about $48,000 over that same time period.
"If you install solar panels yourself, what you're doing is saving that entire retail cost of each kilowatt hour and that adds up to quite a bit more than the FPL Solar Together program," he said.
Zientara believes the biggest perk of the program is that there's no commitment and no risk.
"It gives people a chance to environmentally participate to say they feel good about supporting local solar installations, and it does provide a small amount of savings if you stick with the program for a long period of time," Zientara said.
That's exactly why Stebbins said he joined.
It's a little something; it's not going to change the world, but I guess if enough people do it, it will make a difference," Stebbins said.