For most people considering solar, meeting with a Solar Connection energy consultant is their first direct exposure to the technology. That was not the case for Michael Wojcik.

“I went to the University of North Dakota and was part of a team that built a solar vehicle that raced down the Eastern seaboard. I’m a fanboy, I guess you could say.”

Beyond even his love for the technology and the environment, Michael appreciates the economics of solar.

“I have an MBA from the Carlson School of Management and my life is finance, so evaluating the return on investment wasn’t an issue. I can analyze this like any other investment, and what I tell people is yes, there’s an upfront cost to it, but this is the equivalent of putting granite countertops in your home if those granite countertops wrote you a check every single month forever.”

“It adds value to the home. I get an electricity bill that is essentially negative every month of the year and that’s kind of nice.”

“I always try and find local businesses for what I do, and Solar Connection has been absolutely wonderful to work with. They came out and evaluated our site, which we assumed would be pretty good since we built it that way, and it turned out it was. I really appreciated working with them. They’ve been fantastic throughout the process.”

“Every now and then I have questions and I’ll run into someone from Solar Connection somewhere and we’ll sit down and chat about how it’s going and what I’m seeing. 

“It’s fascinating to see what we projected for the amount of solar we’d get versus what we’re actually getting. We’re still tracking that and we’re at or ahead of where we had hoped to be.”

While Michael was the family’s point-person for the installation, Lisa was behind it 100%.

“I was for it the whole time,” she said. “It was a big deal to him and to me it just seemed like a no-brainer. We save money and get solar panels at the same time. They’re already paid off and essentially just saving us money every month, and will for the next 30 years.”

And what do they plan to do with the tens of thousands of dollars they’ll save? “We’ve got two girls who I think will take care of that pretty well.”