Head Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots has a simple mantra for his football team.

Do Your Job.

The mantra has worked well for Belichick and the Patriots. The team has won six Super Bowl Championships this century.

With less than a month of winter left, our rooftop solar panels appear to have done their job for the 2018-2019 season.

Our home solar energy system was sized to minimize our electric bill over the course of the entire year. We generate extra power in the late spring, summer, and early fall, when the days are sunny and long. We bank credits for that excess power to help offset our bill in the late fall, winter, and early spring, when we often generate less energy than we use.

While we dipped into our solar energy bank in February to help offset our electric bill, we still have a good reserve left for the month of March. By the end of April, I expect we’ll once again be generating more power than we use.

While we’re still many years away from payback on our investment, overall performance has been in line with our expectations.

Which is all I have hoped for.

Our initial investment in home solar panels was expensive. But less than two years into this experiment, we’ve already saved thousands of dollars in electricity. Thus far, our system has been maintenance-free. And we’re expecting to continue saving money for many years to come.

Being able to count on a small electric bill year-round has made it a bit easier for our family to plan for my potential early retirement. And those small bills make it easier for us to strive for financial independence.

Our home solar energy system is doing its job.