Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a listing of Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question that is not answered below, please Contact Us with your question, and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.

How do we find homes for our work events?

We currently partner with other not-for-profit organizations who provide services to low-income homeowners or with local governments that provide weatherization services to low-income homeowners. For example, with our Austin program we have a unique partnership with Meals on Wheels and More of Austin, which provides us with a list of their clients who we then interview to determine if they qualify for our program. We also coordinate with the Austin Rehab Coalition partners. This approach ensures that we are not replicating the many existing, successful client intake programs that housing repair assistance programs offer.

How is our program unique?

• We use a flexible model for collaboration and funding so that each house is treated as unique and we do not duplicate or replicate services that are available to the homeowner from other assistance programs through government and complementary non-profit agencies.


• We provide education and training through work events while also teaching a powerful personal behavior and culture change model that allows us to not just gain footprint reduction from the homeowners, but also all volunteers and partners who participate with the program.


• Our program qualifies for ARRA funds as we support multiple facets of the ARRA program goals including weatherization, energy efficiency, non-profit organizational program development, green jobs training, and green jobs marketplace creation.


• We combine social service with environmental footprint reduction to deliver not only a better quality of life for our low-income homeowners but also measurable environmental improvement to be counted towards any city's climate change goals and air quality issues. We also reduce the impacts of population growth through creating a culture of being efficient in the use of resources where people live a good quality of life but consume less resources to do so.

Who is eligible to be a 1house at a time^TM solar panel system recipient?

At this time, we are only installing solar systems in Austin, Texas on new houses built to meet the Austin Energy Green Building program's residential 4-star rating or carefully selected existing homes owned by low-income Austinites. In other cities, we will only install systems on low-income homes that have their services provided by local power companies which provide rebates for solar systems or where we have the installation donated or installation completed by a green-jobs training program through a local university.

How much can I expect to pay for a solar PV system for my house?

This depends on several factors:

1. the orientation and size of your roof will drive the sizing and design of the system,
2. the complexity of the installation
3. whether you choose to install a battery back-up for the system or tie into the utility grid, and
4. available rebates from your utility and tax credits from the federal government.

The average 3kW system in Austin Energy's service area, after rebates and tax credits, will cost between $6,500 - $12,000. In other cities, the cost is between $6,500-$20,000.

How much can I expect to save on my utility bill if I install a solar PV system on my house?

This depends on several factors:

1. the orientation of your roof will determine how efficient your system is at producing electricity for your house,
2. how much energy is used by the household after the system is installed,
3. the amount of sunlight, and
4. what size system is installed.

Making a house as energy efficient as possible should always be the first step toward reduction of energy use.  Savings estimates for a 3kW system installed on a 1,000sf house vary between $255 - $465 per year, depending on the size of system installed and system efficiency. The payback period varies between 5-25 years, based on the system installed and the rebates available. This estimate doesn't account for the increase to the value of the home due to installation of the system.