‘We’re not rich people’: How a Beavercreek homeowner uses 19 solar panels to cut energy costs

On a corner lot in a neighborhood in Beavercreek sits a brick home with an array of solar panels on the roof. Nineteen of them lie flat like LCD televisions, absorbing the early afternoon sun. The panels stand out against the roofline of the late-1960s ranch-style home, but the rest of the property blends into the suburban neighborhood — lush with greenery and an assortment of raised garden beds in the backyard. Trees partially obscure the power lines the owners hope one day not to rely on.

Since mid-2025, the solar panels have helped power Tim Pritchard’s home.

Pritchard is a sustainability specialist for the City of Dayton, and was previously a sustainability manager for Five Rivers MetroParks. He and his wife Gena Buehrer have lived in their Beavercreek home since 2020.

The house was built in 1969, and the couple has put significant personal investment into retrofitting their older home — which is around 2,700 sq. ft. — to be energy efficient. Solar panels have been the latest change.

Pritchard said the project reflected years of gradual changes to the home, from energy-efficient appliances to native landscaping and eventually an electric vehicle.

How it works

Photovoltaic solar panels convert sunlight into electricity, which can power a home in real time, charge battery storage or feed energy back into the electrical grid. The technology can also be as simple as decorative LEDs that charge during the day and turn on at night.

Nineteen solar panels may seem excessive for a single-family home, but the system was sized based on current usage, plus the anticipated usage of an electric vehicle, which was another change Pritchard made last year.

“This has been a long time coming for us,” Pritchard said in his sunroom. He was drinking coffee at the time; he says he’s powered by substances, not solar. “It took us years to be at the right place to do it. We’re people who do all right, but we’re a public servant and a nurse here. We’re not rich people.”

What finally pushed them to install the array was a federal investment tax credit. At the time, residential and commercial projects could claim 30% of the total installation cost as a tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. But a federal tax bill reduced the timelines for some incentives, which set an urgent deadline for homeowners to complete projects to lock in the 30% rate. Demand was high.

This particular Beavercreek home got in under the wire, so to speak. Their timeline from “that’s a great idea” to “let’s make that great idea happen” was mere months.

Across Ohio, demand for residential solar increased as homeowners rushed to take advantage of federal incentives before policy changes reduced timelines for clean energy tax credits. Installers reported increased demand for consultations and installations, particularly among homeowners looking for long-term stability against fluctuating utility prices.

Who is using solar power?

Industry data from the Solar Energy Industries Association shows Ohio has seen a rapid increase in solar capacity in recent years, with more than 6,300 megawatts installed statewide — enough to power roughly 776,000 homes. That places the state among the top 12 nationally for solar growth.

Even so, solar still accounts for less than one percent of Ohio’s total electricity generation. Much of the expansion has come from large utility-scale projects, with thousands of additional megawatts expected to come online over the next five years.

For their installation, Pritchard and Buehrer contracted with Get Lit Solar, a solar energy company based in Beavercreek. According to Pritchard, Get Lit focuses “on providing high quality, economical solutions, and works at a grassroots level locally” to install solar on homes and businesses.

If homeowners are considering investing in solar energy, research is key. Many businesses are operating in solar now, and Pritchard says they range from “incredibly legitimate to a complete scam.”

But solar isn’t always necessarily about cutting ties with the grid. In fact, Pritchard and Buehrer have a grid-tied system, meaning when the sun isn’t powering the electricity of their home — that is, during non-sunlight hours — their electrical system pulls from the AES grid. Eliminating electric utility costs entirely would require household storage in the form of a lithium ion wall pack battery — or “a very large battery” — which is a substantial additional investment beyond the solar panels.

Currently, daylight solar production can continue powering portions of the home during outages, though a battery system would be needed for consistent overnight backup power.

Lowering the bill

Sitting in Pritchard’s sunroom, nothing was drawing power unnecessarily. All the lights were turned off. Windows allowed natural light in. Though they haven’t seen a complete year with the system, since installation the house has drawn a net negative energy bill for supply.

Because the system often generates more electricity than the house consumes during daylight hours, their AES bill has dropped significantly. The panels were designed to maximize solar generation based on the household’s size and energy usage.

With a 19-panel array like Pritchard and Buehrer’s, the estimated cost of materials and labor based on last year’s figures is around $24,000. That high upfront cost can be daunting.

For homeowners, renters or apartment residents who cannot afford rooftop solar — or cannot install it at all — Pritchard said lowering energy usage can still make a measurable difference both financially and environmentally.

Simple upgrades such as LED lighting, improved insulation, efficient appliances and weather sealing can reduce electricity usage over time. Renewable energy credits, or RECs, allow customers to support renewable energy generation without installing panels themselves. RECs can be purchased through some electricity suppliers or aggregation programs.

Long-term commitment

Even with the aid of the now-canceled tax incentive, $16,000 is still a tremendous amount of money. But considering the switch to an EV cutting down the cost of transportation, Pritchard says the system should pay off in less than a decade, depending on the cost of energy.

“Financially, solar really only makes sense if you’re certain you’ll be in that home for an extended period of time,” he said. “Sure, it’s a large upfront investment, but it’s for energy stability over time. With the increase in energy prices and the outlook of the energy markets being very volatile, I think securing energy rates over time means a lot to a lot of folks. That can’t be discounted right now.”

For Pritchard and Buehrer, their investment in solar was not solely based on saving money on energy bills. It was a step toward a more renewable future. While solar panels still carry manufacturing and transportation costs, Pritchard believes their long-term environmental impact is far smaller than fossil-fuel generation.

“Folks who are interested in being part of a future powered by renewables can feel good about that investment on the whole,” Pritchard said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty coming in terms of how much the electrical grid needs to grow to keep up with technology. I recognize that it’s going to take a lot more than people deciding to put solar panels on the roofs to make that possible.”

The installation was less a lifestyle change than the continuation of one already years in the making.

“For us,” Pritchard said, “this is one step on the journey to be as efficient as possible and still maintain the kind of household that we want.”

Outside, the 19 panels continued absorbing sunlight above the aging ranch home, quietly feeding electricity back into the grid beneath the power lines the trees could not quite conceal.