About Shaw Solar of Durango
Shaw Solar of Durango is a full-service solar contracting company that specializes in designing and installing grid-tied solar systems. They are committed to providing excellent customer service from the initial phone call through the final inspection. Their highly trained professionals take care of every detail, including explaining system options, guiding customers through rebates and tax credits, and handling all technical aspects. Shaw Solar is known for their quick, neat, and thorough installations. They also manage all the necessary permits, purchase parts, organize the installation team, and ensure all inspections are completed. Customers appreciate the company's responsiveness, readily available job appraisers, and seamless process. Shaw Solar offers quality products at great prices, making the entire experience easy and hassle-free for their clients.
Shawn Solar installed our rooftop solar a few years ago. They were very professional and our system works great in our all-electric house! Solar has drastically reduced our electric bills.I highly recommend Shaw Solar.
Recently, we were presented with the opportunity to transition our current house, which runs mostly on propane with some base electric load, to solar. Around Durango, you can’t help to see the little yellow Shaw Solar car (with a solar panel as the hood) or the big Shaw Solar box truck with many cartoon-themed splashes of color. Out of curiosity one day, I went to Shaw’s website, and was most struck by the claim “Quit Paying the Man,” which of course feeds right in to my feelings about large-scale utility companies owning us as citizens. I clicked on, and learned about a No Money Down loan program. Now we’re talking! I promptly reached out to Shaw Solar through their site, and received a quick reply – they could set up an appointment for an estimator to come out in the coming week. No obligation necessary. A few days later I pulled into my driveway 10-minutes late to find Shaw's Greg Walton sitting in my driveway with a clipboard. He was already done, just waiting for the tardy homeowners to arrive. Greg is a great guy, completely professional and patient with the questions, but also honest about what may or may not be possible for our home. Next up was the financing. Greg informed me that the “No money down, low interest” financing was through a program with the Governor’s Energy Office and Elevations Credit Union in Boulder. Basically, the Energy Office has a pot of low interest money to help residents across Colorado get into renewable energy. The program is administered by Elevations Credit union, who handles all of the credit checking, loan details, and dispersements to the solar provider (in this case, Shaw Solar.) Getting approved for a ~$15,000 loan to cover our entire system, equipment, and installation (at 5% interest?) 3 days, and the bank pays the solar provider – we never touch those transactions. The process was SO EASY. As you might imagine, these systems are in high demand around here. The next step was scheduling our installation, and due to our snowy and wet spring, the installation team was booked out a few weeks. Once they got a solid date, Lindsay Harmon of Shaw Solar reached out with an update. She let me know that they had already invoiced Elevations Credit Union for the first installment, and my install would be in about a week (weather permitting.) Exactly on time, the Shaw box truck rolled up our driveway and the guys got to work. Racing an oncoming snowstorm, the crew got the racks installed, ran the conduit and electrical wires, installed the inverter (the box that converts direct current to alternating current and connects to the greater electrical grid) and bolted the panels on the roof. 16 sexy panels – who knew photons could be so sexy?? They got our job done in about a day and a half – pretty efficient given that the roof is high and steep, and it got a bit rainy up there for a while. The guys crushed it. I just can’t reiterate enough how easy, painless, and FUN this entire process has been. Shaw Solar was the model of being on top of things, understanding the reality of the situation with LPEA and the financing, and being totally punctual and professional throughout the entire process. Greg Walton was awesome – patient, knowledgeable, and easy to collaborate with. Lindsay was totally on the ball and really great with her explanations, and the Shaw installers were professional, considerate, and efficient. Elevations Credit Union was great, from the first phone call to the final closing docs on the loan, and Amanda from La Plata Electric Association was just flat awesome.
Our passive and active solar home is totally electric with no natural gas or propane. We pay a monthly fee to be connected to the grid and have net metering. Our total cost for electrical power this year was reduced by net metering buyback (we produced more electricity than we used) and Patronage Capital Retirement funds from our electrical coop. Even though we have an outdoor hot tub that runs all year long, this year’s total electric bill was $42.93 or $3.58/month. Shaw Solar did the installation in March 2011 and we've never regretted it.