Michael E. – Golden, CO

In 2009, Michael and his family decided they wanted an alternative to increasingly expensive utility power at their home in Golden, Colorado. They opted for a large system – 7 kW – that would cover about 80% of their electricity needs, and decided they wanted it ground-mounted on their property instead of on the house itself. The steep, rocky foothills of Golden proved to be a labor-intensive place to set dozens of mounting poles in concrete, but it didn’t stop the Real Goods Solar Denver installation team.

After hours of hand digging, jackhammering and boulder removal (one mammoth boulder was the size of an exercise ball), they brought in a boom to help set the poles in the steep, sloped yard above the road and from there it was business as usual. The system has been running flawlessly since day one, and Michael was so impressed with the job that he hired us again to install a solar system at his family’s second residence in Cripple Creek, Colorado – a 5.17 kW roof-mounted array.