Switching to Solar with Jake Kissack

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to the team Lally Real estate show home of the guaranteed sold program or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne and I’m Attilio. And if you have any questions, just give us a call at 7999596 or check us out online at Teamlally.com.

ATTILIO: 
Well, who we got? We got somebody coming up on the show. Yes, he’s like, his favorite song is the roof the roof, roof got solar panels. We don’t give no.

ADRIENNE: 
That probably is one of his favorite songs. But he did grow up in Wyoming and studied in the south of Spain and three years ago he came to Hawaii after being pursued to leave their Wyoming ranch to help people through solar. He currently is the director of business development of Skyta Solar and Roofing and being someone who loves helping local businesses he chose to be with Skyta, the only local roofing and solar contractor in Hawaii. Please welcome our guest, Jake Kissack. Hey, Jake.

JAKE: 
Hey, guys.

ATTILIO:
Hey,

JAKE: 
Good to be here, how are we doing?

ATTILIO: 
Well, you know what they say at the drive thru at canes, hey, hey, hey, ready for you order? The so let’s let’s, let’s talk. Let’s talk about solar. And what is the latest with what is? Well, first of all, tell people is there any new developments in the technology that we need to be aware of regarding solar panels?

JAKE: 
Yeah. So as most of you guys look on computer, you’re going to get on Amazon and buy stuff from the mainland. And when you’re looking at solar for your house, there’s typically going to be get like tons and tons of different solar panels that you can buy. But if you were to mark that you wanted a solar panel that was guaranteed for Tropics against salt mist, and guaranteed for 25 years, bumper to bumper, there’s only about two panels that that people will use at a and be able to install that have come out this year, that are awesome panels. One of those is a panel called the REC panel. And so the technology that the new technology, if you drive around in the neighborhood, you’re going to see, you’re going to be able to see the outsides of them are new are normally like a gray. And then they’re gonna have those gridlines. So you’re gonna see the little squares and all the solar panels that technology is is an older technology. Now, that has been kind of revamped. And they’re more efficient now. So that then this new REC panel is an awesome panel, it’s guaranteed against salt mist, so it’s good for any oceanfront property or anywhere where there is salt mist, which is everywhere on island. And this technology is one that is going to be flat black. So it looks awesome, you’re not gonna see those grid lines anymore, you get more power production from these panels. And the manufacturer is an awesome manufacturer. They’re They’re super trusted in the solar world. And Skyta happy to announce Skyta just got their pro. It’s called their pro trust installer license to wear that we have exclusivity on their newest panel that’s come out, which is really exciting. Solar is continually getting more efficient. And this is the best panel out on market to date.

ATTILIO: 
And Adrienne.

ADRIENNE: 
Oh, yes. And Jake I know at one point, we had you on the show, and we were talking about the like roof tiles that are solar? Is that has that come to market already? Or like What’s the status on that? That’s yeah, pretty innovative.

JAKE: 
A question. Yeah. Yeah. So if if people here are wanting to reroof, and they’re wanting to put solar shingles on their house, there is a another solar shingle that’s come out, that is guaranteed for 50 years, so nothing is guaranteed for that long and solar, typically it’s for it’s 25 years. So this basically is the best and brightest new technology. And it goes up on your house protects your roof, just like a like a shingle would. And it’s good for 50 years up there. And we just installed one of those out in white passu. And getting that system turned on. It is incredible. It’s very simple. It’s easy to add on to if you’re not sure how many panels you’re gonna need now or how many you need later. And can I add on to it later? The answer’s yes. That the guys are up there walking on it, which can’t typically walk on solar panels. It doesn’t need to be maintenance, like the old technology of solar panels, so it is super slick. If you’re thinking that you need to do your roof, it’s way cheaper to get a solar Shingle Roof than it is to replace your entire roof and then add solar panels onto it. So it’s a great option for anyone who is wanting to replace their roof and like redo their roof with shingles and get a 50 year roof up on up on their up on their home.

ATTILIO: 
Well the good news too is you guys aren’t a solar company. That’s gotta go contract with a roofing company. You are a good thing

JAKE: 
So we are the roofing company. Yeah.

ADRIENNE: 
So Jake I know that with your company, you guys specialize in the dealing with the insurance claims. If someone were to have like a damaged roof that needed an insurance claim, could they use that money that they get from the insurance to replace it with the solar shingles instead of putting what was there before? They like credit it towards that? Okay, great.

JAKE: 
Yep, absolutely. And I just, I just talked to one of my customers out in Waianae and they just are getting a check for about 16,000 from Allstate their home insurance. And they’re, and we’re talking about solar so they they can get the money for the new roof, we give them the option, hey, do you want to add solar just a little bit more, and show them showing how much they’ll save compared to wind electrics, if it makes sense for them? It almost always does. And so that’s a new offering that we’re that we are offering. So, and it’s really exciting, looks really slick. You don’t have any panels coming up off the roof. And for some people, they they want it to be really slick, really neat, and aesthetic, and it looks great.

ATTILIO: 
Well, that’s super cool. What. So we got we talked about solar panels, we talked about solar panels that are roof shingles.

ADRIENNE: 
We talked about the insurance claims. Excellent. They are with dealing with insurance company claims.

ATTILIO:
Yes. And now next, let’s talk about what do people need to know about charging stations and teenagers? I’ll skip the teenagers part. What about the charging stations?

JAKE: 
Yeah, well, every home is programmed to have a solar panels on their house by 2035 is the goal here in Hawaii, all islands. And that’s the goal. And they’re moving towards that. And of course, you’re seeing a bunch of the cars coming over are going to be electric and are already electric, that we do charging stations at the home make your home Evie ready electric vehicle ready. So that comes as as a bonus when you that you can add on to your solar system. So if you’re thinking about getting electric car currently have one, we can show you how many panels you need, and how and the charging station that best fits your home in order to power up all of your all of your cars and get you to work and save you the most money because that’s where the maximum saving is is to have solar panels up on your roof charging your solar or your electric vehicle.

ATTILIO: 
Well, that charging station work with a flux capacitor on a DeLorean. Oh, no, that was back to the future. Nevermind.

JAKE: 
Back to the Future.

ADRIENNE: 
Let’s talk about some of the changes that are coming up with how we’re being billed our electric. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
there must be like seven or 10. I don’t know. There’s like a bunch of different billing things that have that have metamorphed over the years that they first started doing PV panels. So where are we at today?

JAKE:
Yeah, so where we’re at today is we’re at a point that if you want to get solar on your house, and you’ve never had solar on your home, yeah, you’re gonna get solar plus a battery. And for those, and then you can store the power at your house. And in case of blackouts, power outage, you’re totally fine. You can your your power always stays on, you kind of have your own power plant at your house with a solar panels and at home batteries, Tesla, and the other batteries are all installed. The second option is if you have had solar panels on your house, and you got them installed a while ago, you can actually expand that system with what Hawaiian Electric released last year. And that was the battery bonus programs, the a lot of people who used to install solar, and have had it on their home for some years of like, I still get power outages. I want to add a battery, can I add a battery? Yeah, we can help you with that you can add a battery. And it can be on the dime of Hawaiian Electric, they paid for a majority of a new battery. And that’s the second option. The third one, this is a little bit in the future. So this is a fresh news clipping fresh offline. So if anybody is looking and saying, Hey, what’s happening with Hawaiian Electric, you can get on Google and ask them as well. But I have the exact news clip and that I wanted to share with homeowners. This is for homeowners and it’s talking about a new program called Time Of Use that’s set to release next year and be rolled out for 20 and 2024 and 2025. So it’s saying all customers all Hawaiian Electric customers will be placed on a time of use rate plan, and likely in 2024 and 2525. Oh, and there’s currently a pilot program that’s already started if people want to opt into it, and it will give a day rate that is, in the daytime, it is a set rate. At nighttime, it’s double what the day rate is. And during the evening hours, those peak hours, it’s triple the rate of what you’re paying during the day. So they’re wanting to in this article, it talks about encouraging customers to do their laundry during the day. But what happens if you work during the day, and you have to do laundry at night? Well, the new time of use program, say your bill is 500 bucks currently, and you just can’t change your schedule, you can’t do your laundry in the middle of the day, take advantage of that, and your bills, 500 bucks next year as that program rolls out, and everyone will be a part of it is what they’re saying online. And I called Hawaiian Electric to verify. And they said if your bill is 500 bucks today, and it will be $1,350 Once the program has started, and once it’s fully on boarded with everyone, and so that is a that’s going to be the biggest change in a century. Coming with Hawaiian Electric, they’ve never done this, everyone has had a regular meter at their home. And now they’re going to be transitioning everyone into a time of use meter. And that’s to where where your rates will double. Like I said at nighttime and triple those evening hours,

ATTILIO:
board game sales. inescapable. Candles are gonna go I said board games and candles. I’m gonna open up a store that just sells board games and candles.

ADRIENNE: 
Yeah, yeah. Or are you gonna go get panels on your house? Oh, well, it’s

ATTILIO: 
gonna be time of you. So you know what they’re doing. They’re promoting family wellness.

ADRIENNE: 
When you go out to

ATTILIO: 
shut those extra lights off

JAKE: 
fireplaces, we’re going to be roasting stuff over the open fire. Yeah, it’d be

ATTILIO: 
walking into the living room with a torch and going here, you hear ye I have an announcement.

ADRIENNE: 
So with the with the cost of electricity going up so much, it’s gonna be for people that it didn’t make sense for before. It’s definitely going to make sense. Now with this other changes,

ATTILIO: 
you know, we know about human beings, human beings, they’re motivated by pain or pleasure. So they’re creating a pain circumstance, that if you insist on using electricity during peak hours is going to cost you triple. So that motivation will have them seek the pleasure of washing, you know, maybe I know they have washers that you can put on a time delay. You put the clothes in, and you can set it to wash the clothes at a certain time. And then you’re gonna have to do your lunch break to go throw them in the dryer. But, or Yeah,

ADRIENNE: 
well, you just do it on the weekends on Saturday and Sunday during you know that those hours. Yeah, just ficient be intentional with your power usage. Yeah. And get them solar panels.

JAKE:
With some freedom, run it whatever you want, and still say what we’re projecting. And this, this is a projection for the market people the Solar World is currently buzzing, because we know that this is going to create a huge supply and demand issue for here in Hawaii. And if I told everybody, hey, guess what, I’m going to charge you three times as much for gasoline next year than what you’re paying today. And you have to go to work, like you can’t stay at home, you got to go to work, people are going to people would be stockpiling and trying to figure out ways to get an electric vehicle or do anything. And so the encouragement is the same. If sore has not made sense for you. It will make sense for you in the future. Even if even if right now. You know you’re not paying a ton of money. And you’re like I just doesn’t make sense. Now would be the time to get it before the big the big runnable bills come next year and everybody rushes because it will just be it will be a solar madhouse for 2024 and 2025. No doubt here. And

ATTILIO: 
how long does the permitting process and all of that it’s anywhere what six to 12 months, right?

JAKE: 
It’s six to 12 months? Yep. So if you were just saying today, it’s six to 12 months to get it all all installed and totally turned on at your house.

ATTILIO: 
You know, how many years should you have you on your roof? At the time you decide to do this to say, You know what, maybe I should replace the roof?

JAKE: 
Yeah, it does depend. There’s a bunch of different roofing out there. That’s why we do a home inspection. So that if somebody’s like, I’m just not sure we have people, we have professionals that go and look at the structural integrity of every home that we install on to check that the material we’re installing on will last, the full lifetime, the 25 years that solar is on the roof. And if it’s one of those circumstances where hey, it might be able to last year half life, we let you know, so that you can make the decision to either replace it at the start to last for the full 25 years along with the solar. Or you can plan on pulling the panels off, uninstalling them getting a new roof and then installing them later. That’s very common.

ATTILIO: 
So that window of opportunity is probably in the next six to 12 months. So that to beat the Russia.

JAKE: 
Yep. Yep. To beat the rush. And that’s, that’s going to be both with Skyta you can do. I know there’s a lot of homeowners that are listening to this radio show today. And if you have a business as well, and you’re wanting to see how much you can save on a commercial building, or building like a complex, you’re an AOA or an HOA president are on the board. These are all things to look into. And that to look into and research now, before 2024. And you just get the paperwork and get it signed, so that you can have, you can have the rates locked in where they’re at now. It’s a great time to go solar, and to get to get it on homes, as well as commercial real estate as well.

ATTILIO: 
And you guys are locally owned local company, and everything around a long time. Everything in house.

ADRIENNE: 
going anywhere.

JAKE: 
Everything’s in house, we’re right over there, behind Costco and Kapolei.

ATTILIO: 
And everybody wears different kind of colored T shirts. Yeah, that’s right.

ADRIENNE:
Check it out on the website. And they have they have little raps on their car too. Yeah. Very professional company probably

JAKE: 
seen the white and blue trucks around town. Yeah, they’ve been there has been in your neighborhood.

ADRIENNE:
Okay, so Jake, let’s talk about the, like the financing and the bundling. You know, how does this work as far as you know, affordability?

JAKE: 
Yep. So everybody wants to save money, and not pay any money out of pocket. That’s the most common so as long as you qualify which most of my customers, the majority of my customers do qualify. If they pay their bills, and they pay their bills on time, you can get qualified, even if you don’t, there’s some other options to help if you have a low credit score, because everybody wants to get solar. So there’s plenty of options. So to use the example I did before, if you spend 500 bucks on your current utility bill, then with a financing option, you can that you qualify for, you can get set with a lower monthly rate, and we call it the bill swap program. So you swapped from having a real high Bill 500 to a lower monthly bill where you can know in 25 years, this is what I’m going to be spending every single month. And this is the potential interest on it or no interest depending on what’s qualified for and then there’s no money down. So you can get a reroof you can get solar installed for no money out of pocket. And you can immediately use all the tax incentives. And there’s a lot of potential tax incentives from federal from the state of Hawaii, from Hawaiian Electric to help pay for over half of your system is covered through potential incentives, as long as you qualify for them. So that’s what Skyta and the team as a consulting team is there and what my team is there and what I’m there to help the homeowner look and see, hey, what’s the best financial fit for the home to meet the goals that they have? Do they want to pay it off today? Yeah, do they want to finance it? What do you want to do? You can do a home equity line of credit. And what’s

ATTILIO:
many options to get solar on the high end? What what’s on the upper end of the deluxe model? Double Cheeseburger with extra sauce, double

JAKE: 
cheeseburger fries.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, what does what’s the credit score you’re looking at on the upper end? What kind of credit score

JAKE: 
on the on the upper end? It’s 750 or above and we can work with 630 right at 630. Sometimes they do pass with 600.

ATTILIO: 
Okay, gotcha. Well, you

ADRIENNE: 
guys make it easy, you know to make it affordable. And I personally have used Skyta to install the charging station and battery extra panels on my home. And you guys still come out and are like double checking things if you know they’re getting notices in the system. So very professional and attentive. And I can’t recommend them enough.

ATTILIO: 
You reduce all the yelling because you come home late at night. shut all these lights off. Well, you guys think we made our money, then oh, nevermind.

ADRIENNE: 
But I still get upset about. Yeah, you gotta be off

ATTILIO: 
there. You gotta shut that stuff off. You don’t know why we don’t say turn off the lights. You say? shut them off. Shut up. Hey, shut the light. Brah

ADRIENNE:
Jake, we’re gonna we’re gonna be wrapping the show up. Is there anything that we did not touch on? That you want to shout out to the listeners? Like a couple minutes left?

JAKE: 
Yeah, I. Yep. So last thing is if you want to call me text me, or get a hold of me personally, would love to give you my phone number. I’ve had the privilege of helping out a ton of Team Lally customers, listeners best number to reach me at as you guys get your pens out is 8089138249, 8089138249. Feel free to shoot me a text a call, and happy to set up both a video or an at home consultation to be able to show you how much you can say with solar, and any of the bundle options with the roof in the solar in the electric vehicle charging stations and solar and see how much if you haven’t looked into store in some time. Look into it now. So that you can see how much you can save and get the numbers locked in. As you know, next year, the rates are going to go up. And now’s a great time to at least look and see that it makes sense for you. And what you’d be investing in.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, Jake will be walking down the street. He’s gonna be knocking on your door and you hear him singing your roof, your roof, your roof get solar. If you know more solar, you go and have one. Hi, Bill. Your

ADRIENNE: 
Thank you, Jake. And we appreciate you calling in and giving us the updates on what’s happening with solar. And our electric bills. Yeah. So thank you so much. You’re welcome.

JAKE:
Well, you guys have a great day.

ATTILIO:
Hey, speaking of a great day. We’re looking for somebody to be a transaction coordinator on our team, you gotta have a license some experience. We’re paying it’s a W two

ADRIENNE: 
position B to salary and benefits, salary and

ATTILIO: 
benefits 50k a year to start plus other opportunities because you’re gonna have your license and make even more than that even doubling your pay based on those other opportunities. So if you’re that person and you’re hearing this message, go to JoinTeamlally.com To start the process and we’re always looking for agents to come join our team. I think we got about what 15 more slots for agents JoinTeamlally.com, JoinTeamlally.com

ADRIENNE: 
Well, thank you for listening and thank you to our sponsors. 

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