What is Solar?

Solar ener­gy uti­lizes the light from the sun to pro­duce pow­er. Unlike fos­sil fuels, solar ener­gy is avail­able any­where on earth. Solar ener­gy is free, immune to ris­ing ener­gy prices, and can be used to pro­vide heat, light­ing, mechan­i­cal pow­er and elec­tric­i­ty.

The state’s inde­pen­dent, con­sumer-owned and not-for-prof­it elec­tric coop­er­a­tives ― a trust­ed source for reli­able, afford­able and envi­ron­men­tal­ly respon­si­ble elec­tric­i­ty for more than 75 years ― devel­oped MySC­So­lar to help you make informed deci­sions about invest­ing in solar pow­er, prop­er instal­la­tion and safe­ty.

Since 1941, York Elec­tric has pro­vid­ed reli­able and com­pet­i­tive­ly priced elec­tric­i­ty to our mem­bers. Your coop­er­a­tive is your trust­ed source for ener­gy so that you can tru­ly weigh the cost and ben­e­fits of all forms of alter­na­tive ener­gy.

Com­mu­ni­ty Solar is an afford­able, low-risk way for mem­bers to ben­e­fit from solar ener­gy with­out any of the has­sles of design­ing, per­mit­ting, installing, main­tain and ensur­ing your own pho­to­volta­ic solar array. Research in South Car­oli­na has shown that the cost per KW for com­mu­ni­ty solar is rough­ly half that of rooftop solar; there­fore, you will get a bet­ter return on your invest­ment by invest­ing in com­mu­ni­ty solar.

While large investor-owned util­i­ties may pro­vide rebates for rooftop solar devices, the mon­ey used for these rebates is recouped in the rate and all cus­tomers share in the cost. While YEC is sup­port­ive of alter­na­tive forms of ener­gy, as a mem­ber-owned coop­er­a­tive, we need to make sure any new offer­ings are fair and not sub­si­dized by those who are not inter­est­ed in the pro­gram.

Solar ener­gy has come down in price over the years; how­ev­er, it is still approx­i­mate­ly three times the cost of more tra­di­tion­al types of ener­gy.