Lots of people want to do their part in helping the environment, and one way to do it is by installing solar panels to cut back on the use of electricity. Unfortunately, the cost of these panels can be pretty exorbitant. Not everyone is willing to pay $73 a month for 730 kilowatt hours in addition to the other expenses they pay per month, so not everyone is willing to put such panels in place.

In response, Benicia company EcoVolt Solar came up with a solution: providing a solar panel program that would pay consumers annually for using its product.

The way it works is simple: EcoVolt Solar installs solar systems at no cost to the residents, parts and labor included. The company then price matches the solar energy at the rate of a resident’s local electricity service provider, and residents receive an annual cutback for use of the roof.

According to EcoVolt CEO Bill Hilliard, EcoVolt was founded to make going solar more attractive to mass market consumers.

“Every year the country builds about a million new buildings,” he said. “But for whatever reason, the country only constructs about 250,000 rooftop solar installations. Not all of these buildings are in solar-appropriate locations, but the rooftop solar numbers are still way too low.”

Hilliard felt that more needed to be done to convince people to adopt solar technology.

“There must be something wrong with the way solar is offered to the building owner/homeowner,” he said. “We felt that a simple program, unambiguously consumer friendly, would spur solar adoption.”

According to Hilliard, customers who use solar would pay a lower price than those who exclusively used Pacific Gas & Electric or Marin Clean Energy as their energy service providers.

“We pay 10 percent of the home’s electricity purchases from us each year, as an unlimited, annual cash back bonus – just for letting us use their roof to make their home more environmentally friendly,” he said. “The cash back payments are greater than one month of solar electricity for free.”

To bring the company to Benicia, EcoVolt Solar partnered with WattzOn, a privately held Mountain View-based company that helps people learn how to save energy. WattzOn manages the Benicia Home Efficiency Program, which offers free in-home water and energy consultations for Benicia residents. It also trains several Benicia High School students as interns. WattzOn helped EcoVolt Solar launch its program in Benicia.

“Solar is the way of the future, and it needs to be more accessible,” WattzOn Program Coordinator Staci Givens said. “This approach is completely new, and no other companies in the industry today have an offer like this.”

To qualify, a homeowner would have to send EcoVolt a snapshot of their utility bill, and then EcoVolt Solar would pay for use of residents’ roofs for at least 20 years. After five years, the homeowner can buy the system if they want or continue to let EcoVolt Solar own and operate it for them.

“We are trying to turn solar from an ‘ethical’ or ‘moral’ decision into a financial one,” Hilliard said. “You don’t need to pay more to do your part for mother earth. If you want to save on electricity bills, you can. You even get paid for letting us share your roof.”

Hilliard jokingly described the process as being “like Roofbnb.”

The program is currently only available in Benicia and the surrounding areas. Hilliard says the company chose Benicia because its demographics represent many of California’s locations.

“Our goal is to learn how to market this new offer here and then to replicate it in select locations nationwide,” he said.

Hillard also noted that EcoVolt Solar is the only company he is aware of that is offering such a program.

“To our knowledge, we are the only company in the world offering to pay people for the right to install solar on their roof,” he said. “This is newsworthy because it is a first in the nation opportunity to get yearly payments just for going solar.”

He referred to the process as “a feel-good way to do well by doing good.”

For a free solar quote, call EcoVolt Solar at (707) 418-7100. For additional information, visit EcoVoltSolar.com.