After you’ve been around something for a while, you start to take it for granted.

Things like dissolvable cornstarch packing peanuts.

It took one imaginative 11-year-old boy and an email from a happy customer to remind us just how nifty these little earth-friendly peanuts are.

If you’ve received a shipment from Pegasus Lighting in the past few years, your box most likely had a sticker on it with those words. Inside the box is a note that shares the reasons behind our choice to use biodegradable cornstarch packing peanuts, not the least of which is because they are really fun to play with.

Thank you, Happy Customer, for restoring our packing peanut fascination by sending this great note and photo of your son’s clever art sculpture (whatever you decide that it will be)! Oh, and for the record, I’m voting Rocket Ship.

Customers are always inquiring about the cost of solar panels. Here, we’ll break down the answer to that question.

First of all, the panels themselves can cost anywhere between $3,000 and $10,000 depending on your demands and the size of the array. This is easily the most quantifiable part of the equation. This is often somewhere around half of the full cost of a solar installation.

The panels don’t do much good without the power inverter that allows you to connect to the power grid and they can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000.

There are also a variety of related connecting pieces to make the whole thing work properly.

Then we move on to the “soft” goods that are part of the installation. Namely, the installation itself. The cost of installation often hovers somewhere around 25 percent of solar panels cost. Installation isn’t just the act of putting panels on your roof. Preparing the roof to accept the mounting system can take time.

And once the array is installed, you have to pay for permits and inspections for the array to be part of your home. These can run you a few thousand dollars. All in all, solar installation can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $40,000.

And the cost doesn’t stop there. Regular maintenance is recommended to keep your array running at optimal performance.

But you can compare these costs to the greater cost of using traditional power from the municipal grid, which continues to rise every year. Solar power grows cheaper all the time and is an incredible way to reduce your long-term expenses.

If you look at these numbers and wonder how you can make any of this a reality, give us a call so we can discuss financing options. Some customers are eligible for quite generous agreements that let them get started with a solar array almost immediately. That could be you, so don’t hesitate to give us a call.