Frequently Asked Questions About Residential Systems

Fre­quently Asked Ques­tions About Res­i­den­tial Sys­tems
Com­mer­cial Energy Audit Soft­ware
What is a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem?
How does a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem work?
Will my sys­tem work at night?
Will my sys­tem work on cloudy days?
What hap­pens dur­ing a power out­age?
Does your solar sys­tem make hot water?
How can I tell a water-heating panel from a solar elec­tric mod­ule?
Can I gen­er­ate heat for my home with a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem?
What do the terms on-grid, grid-connected, grid-tied and off-grid mean?
How do I know if a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem would work on my home?
Why does it require at least 120 square feet of roof space?
Why is shade a problem?

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What if I need a new roof or am build­ing a new house?
Can I add reflec­tors or mir­rors around the pan­els to increase the power they gen­er­ate?
How many solar pan­els do I need to pro­duce enough elec­tric­ity to run my house?
Will a sys­tem pro­duce enough energy to cover all of my elec­tric­ity needs?
What other options do I have if the sys­tem can­not be mounted on my roof?
If I rent a home or apart­ment, can I still get a sys­tem?
What is net meter­ing?
Do all states require util­i­ties to offer net meter­ing?
Are gov­ern­ment incen­tives avail­able to reduce the price?
How much power will a res­i­den­tial sys­tem pro­duce?
Can the mod­ules with­stand high winds and hail?
How long will my solar power sys­tem last?
How can I tell how my sys­tem is per­form­ing?
What main­te­nance does the sys­tem require?
Do I have to buy a ser­vice con­tract?
How much does the main­te­nance cost?
Do I need a build­ing per­mit?
Do I need per­mis­sion from the local util­ity to con­nect my solar sys­tem to the grid?
Do I need approval from my home­own­ers’ asso­ci­a­tion?
Can I have a solar elec­tric sys­tem on my house and still be con­nected to city power?
Can I be totally inde­pen­dent from the util­ity?
What is a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem?
We offer com­pre­hen­sive, code-compliant sys­tems that allow you to gen­er­ate your own elec­tric­ity at home. Designed to inter­con­nect with your exist­ing util­ity ser­vice, they fea­ture solar mod­ules, plug-and-play wiring, power elec­tron­ics and our patented mount­ing kits. Our installer net­work pro­vides sys­tem instal­la­tion and ser­vice.
Com­mer­cial Energy Audit Soft­ware
How does a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem work?
Solar cells in the mod­ules mounted on your roof con­vert sun­light directly into DC power. A com­po­nent called an inverter con­verts this DC power into AC power that can be used in your home. The sys­tem is inter­con­nected with your util­ity. Dur­ing the day, if your solar sys­tem pro­duces more elec­tric­ity than your home is using, your util­ity may allow net meter­ing or the cred­it­ing of your util­ity account for the excess power gen­er­ated being returned to the grid. Your util­ity would pro­vide power as usual at night and dur­ing the day when your elec­tric­ity demand exceeds that pro­duced by your solar sys­tem. Sys­tems are also avail­able with a bat­tery backup. Part of the power pro­duced by your solar sys­tem dur­ing the day is used to charge the bat­ter­ies, which pro­vide power for your crit­i­cal loads in the event of a power outage.

Will my sys­tem work at night?
No. Sun­light must be present for your solar mod­ules to pro­duce power. At night, you draw power from your utility.

Will my sys­tem work on cloudy days?
Yes, though they pro­duce less elec­tric­ity. Under a light over­cast sky, pan­els might pro­duce about half as much as under full sun.

What hap­pens dur­ing a power out­age?
We offer two types of solar res­i­den­tial sys­tems. One type of sys­tem pow­ers your home dur­ing day­light hours, but does not pro­vide power in an out­age, even on a sunny day. Another type of sys­tem pow­ers your home dur­ing day­light hours, but also has a bat­tery backup designed to pro­vide power to your home’s crit­i­cal loads dur­ing an out­age, day or night.

Does your solar sys­tem make hot water?
No. Peo­ple often con­fuse our prod­ucts with solar ther­mal pan­els that involve water cir­cu­lat­ing through tubes to be heated by the sun for swim­ming pool water heat­ing. Our solar mod­ules con­vert sun­light into elec­tric cur­rent to oper­ate appli­ances, motors, pumps and other devices..

How can I tell a water heat­ing panel from a solar elec­tric mod­ule?
Solar elec­tric mod­ules are typ­i­cally one to two inches (2.5 to 5 cm) thick with 32 or more three to four inch (7.5 to 10 cm) blue or black solar cells on the back of the cover glass. Solar water heat­ing pan­els are gen­er­ally much thicker and may have tubes con­nected to a flat black plate under the glass, or a black tank inside the col­lec­tor panel.

Can I gen­er­ate heat for my home with a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem?
No. Our solar power sys­tems are designed to pro­vide elec­tric­ity to run your lights, appli­ances and other elec­tric devices in your home. Other solar tech­nolo­gies are designed to turn the sun’s light into heat instead of electricity.

What do the terms on-grid, grid-connected, grid-tied and off-grid mean?
On-grid, grid-connected or grid-tied means con­nected to the util­ity elec­tri­cal grid. Our solar elec­tric sys­tems are designed as on-grid sys­tems, mean­ing that they inter­con­nect with your exist­ing util­ity ser­vice. Off-grid refers to sys­tems that are not con­nected to the util­ity elec­tri­cal grid. Our solar elec­tric pack­aged sys­tems are not designed for off-grid appli­ca­tions. An off-grid sys­tem must be cus­tom designed by a solar power expert.
Com­mer­cial Energy Audit Soft­ware
How do I know if a res­i­den­tial solar elec­tric sys­tem would work on my home?
Solar elec­tric power works for most homes. Our sys­tems are engi­neered to work with most roof­ing mate­ri­als, in most loca­tions where direct sun­light is avail­able, in almost every region of the United States. You need a sunny place on your roof about 120 square feet or 11 sqaure meters (10 by 12 feet or 3 by 3.67 meters) for our smaller sys­tems, and up to 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) for our largest sys­tems. Shad­ing from trees or other obstruc­tions can reduce the prac­ti­cal­ity of a spe­cific instal­la­tion. A south-facing roof area is opti­mal, but solar elec­tric pan­els can be mounted on west– or east– fac­ing roofs and still pro­duce bet­ter than 90 per­cent of the power of a true south roof mounting.

Why does it require at least 120 square feet (11 square meters) of roof space?
Each solar mod­ule is approx­i­mately 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and 2½ feet (0.75 meters) wide. The mod­ules are always grouped in a set of four, and the min­i­mum num­ber of mod­ules for our small­est sys­tem is twelve mod­ules. This requires an area of at least 120 square feet (11 square meters).

Why is shade a prob­lem?
Because of the wiring design of a solar mod­ule, all of the indi­vid­ual solar cells on a mod­ule must receive full sun­light for the mod­ule to work prop­erly. If any por­tion of the mod­ule is shaded, the entire mod­ule power output-even those sec­tions still exposed to sunlight-is lowered.

What if I need a new roof or am build­ing a new house?
This is the ideal sit­u­a­tion for installing solar. Before lay­ing the roof, you can install flash­able mount­ing brack­ets that pro­vide the high­est level of pro­tec­tion from leakage.

Can I add reflec­tors or mir­rors around the solar pan­els to increase the power they gen­er­ate?
No. Our solar pan­els designed for use in direct sun­light only.

How many solar pan­els do I need to pro­duce enough elec­tric­ity to run my house?
The array size you need depends on your aver­age elec­tri­cal usage, cli­mate, roof angle, shad­ing prob­lems and many other fac­tors. To approx­i­mate the array size you need, mul­ti­ply your aver­age daily elec­tri­cal demand in kilowatt-hours by 0.25. The result is the approx­i­mate size of solar array, in kilo­watts, needed to meet your elec­tri­cal demand.

Will a sys­tem pro­duce enough energy to cover all my elec­tric­ity needs?
It is impor­tant to under­stand that a solar elec­tric sys­tem does not need to pro­vide all of the elec­tric­ity you need to be of great value. A small sys­tem that dis­places an aver­age of one-quarter to one-half of your aver­age demand reduces your elec­tric bill. With bat­tery backup, it can deliver unin­ter­rupted power to crit­i­cal loads dur­ing util­ity out­ages for days or weeks. We are happy to pro­vide you with a sys­tem that sup­plies 100 per­cent of your energy needs, but cut­ting your elec­tric­ity by 40 to 50 per­cent is typ­i­cally the most cost-efficient approach for home solar power.

What other options do I have if the sys­tem can­not be mounted on my roof?
If a roof-mounted sys­tem proves imprac­ti­cal, a ground-mount, trel­lis or per­gola appli­ca­tion may be an option.

If I rent a home or apart­ment, can I still get a sys­tem?
No. Solar elec­tric sys­tems are avail­able only to prop­erty own­ers. The instal­la­tion of a solar elec­tric sys­tem involves the prop­erty owner enter­ing a con­trac­tual agree­ment that includes a poten­tial prop­erty lien (called a mechanic’s lien).

What is net meter­ing?
Net meter­ing mea­sures the dif­fer­ence between the elec­tric­ity you buy from your util­ity and the elec­tric­ity you pro­duce with your solar energy sys­tem. Under net meter­ing, any excess elec­tric­ity pro­duced by your solar energy sys­tem is deliv­ered back into the util­ity grid, effec­tively spin­ning your meter back­wards. Your meter spins for­ward when your solar energy sys­tem is not pro­duc­ing all of the elec­tric­ity you are cur­rently using. Your elec­tric meter keeps track of this net dif­fer­ence as you gen­er­ate elec­tric­ity and take elec­tric­ity from the util­ity grid.

Do all states require util­i­ties to offer net meter­ing?
Many, but not all, states require util­i­ties to offer net meter­ing, but the size and tech­nol­ogy require­ments vary. If your state does not pro­vide for net meter­ing, you can still use the elec­tric­ity in your house and enjoy the ben­e­fits of clean reli­able power from the sun. How­ever, you must pur­chase a sec­ond meter to mea­sure the amount of elec­tric­ity your sys­tem pro­duces and make spe­cial arrange­ments with the util­ity to receive credit for excess elec­tric­ity pro­duced by your solar elec­tric system.

Are gov­ern­ment incen­tives avail­able to reduce the price?
Yes. State agen­cies and munic­i­pal util­i­ties offer rebate and incen­tive pro­grams for home­own­ers and small busi­nesses to pro­mote the instal­la­tion of renew­able energy equip­ment such as ours. Incen­tives can cut the cost of your sys­tem in half, sav­ing you thou­sands of dol­lars. Your dealer can tell you more about the incen­tives avail­able in your area.

How much power will a res­i­den­tial sys­tem pro­duce?
The amount of power pro­duced by a sys­tem varies depend­ing on the size of the sys­tem, your geo­graphic loca­tion and cli­mate and whether the sys­tem has a bat­tery backup.

Can the mod­ules with­stand high winds and hail?
The pan­els are sup­ported by our roofer-designed mount­ing sys­tem that has been tested to with­stand 125 mph (200 kph) winds and can work on almost every type of roof­ing mate­r­ial. Our mod­ules can with­stand one inch (2.5 cm) hail­stones at 50 mph (80.5 kph).

How long will my solar power sys­tem last?
With no mov­ing parts and made of very inert mate­ri­als, our solar mod­ules are tough. Most of the related sys­tem com­po­nents should also last for many years with­out prob­lems. The bat­ter­ies in our res­i­den­tial sys­tem may need replace­ment in five to 10 years.

How can I tell how my sys­tem is per­form­ing?
We pro­vide a power meter with the sys­tem. Located in your home, your power meter tells you exactly how much elec­tric­ity you gen­er­ate and use, and when you send power back to the util­ity grid. You will be able to man­age your house­hold usage like never before.

What main­te­nance does the sys­tem require?
You should go years with­out prob­lems. The bat­ter­ies in our res­i­den­tial sys­tem may need replace­ment every five to 10 years. We rec­om­mend that the installer do a sys­tem check once a year, just to make sure every­thing is per­form­ing as it should. If it is con­ve­nient, you can hose off the mod­ules two or three times a year.

Do I have to buy a ser­vice con­tract?
No. We do not offer an annual ser­vice con­tract. Your dealer may offer a ser­vice con­tract for reg­u­larly sched­uled checks of the sys­tem out­put and wiring.

How much does the main­te­nance cost?
Since the main­te­nance required is very low, your cost should be min­i­mal. Most of the related sys­tem com­po­nents should last for many years with­out prob­lems. The bat­ter­ies in the res­i­den­tial sys­tem may need replace­ment every five to 10 years.

Do I need a build­ing per­mit?
Yes. Your dealer and installer know how to obtain the nec­es­sary per­mits from your local government.

Do I need per­mis­sion from the local util­ity to con­nect my solar sys­tem to the grid?
Yes. The local util­ity has rules and pro­ce­dures that must be fol­lowed to con­nect any gen­er­a­tor to the grid safely and legally. These rules are gen­er­ally based on national stan­dards with which our sys­tems com­ply. Your dealer will help you with the doc­u­men­ta­tion and procedures.

Do I need approval from my home­own­ers’ asso­ci­a­tion?
Some home­own­ers’ asso­ci­a­tions have rules regard­ing the instal­la­tion of any­thing on your roof or grounds. If you belong to a home­own­ers’ asso­ci­a­tion, con­sult your covenants for details. Many states pro­hibit home­own­ers’ asso­ci­a­tions from restrict­ing solar devices.

Can I have a solar elec­tric sys­tem on my house and still be con­nected to city power?
Yes. In fact, our sys­tems are designed as on-grid sys­tems, mean­ing they are designed to inter­con­nect with util­ity power.

Can I be totally inde­pen­dent from the util­ity?
Our solar elec­tric sys­tems are designed to inter­con­nect with exist­ing util­ity ser­vice. Off-grid sys­tems must be cus­tom designed by a solar power expert.

As of Dec. 17, 2010 the fed­eral energy effi­ciency tax credit has been extended through 2011, but the fed­eral gov­ern­ment has sig­nif­i­cantly changed the credit lim­its and eli­gi­bil­ity requirements.

The credit will be reduced from 30 per­cent to 10 per­cent of the energy effi­ciency improve­ment costs, and the max­i­mum tax credit will drop from $1,500 to $500. Addi­tion­ally, the $500 cap will apply to any­one who received the credit from Jan. 1, 2005 to present, which means, if you claimed $500 or more of the credit at any point since Jan. 1, 2005, you won’t be eli­gi­ble for the 2011 extension.

If you haven’t yet received the credit or haven’t fully com­pletely used the $500 avail­able, cer­tain energy effi­ciency upgrades such as ENERGY STAR appli­ances, HVAC sys­tems and more will be eli­gi­ble for the credit. The credit, which you’ll be able to claim on your 2011 fed­eral tax returns, will be equal to 10 per­cent of the cost of instal­la­tion up to $500. Spe­cial credit lim­its have been put on cer­tain qual­i­fy­ing equipment:

Main air cir­cu­lat­ing fans – $50
High effi­ciency fur­naces and boil­ers – $150
ENERGY STAR Win­dows – $200
Energy effi­cient water heaters, heat-pump water heaters and heat pumps – $300

Some of the qual­i­fy­ing equip­ment must also meet new effi­ciency stan­dards. For exam­ple, boil­ers must now be 95 per­cent (or more) efficient.

Ener­gySavvy will update the infor­ma­tion on the fed­eral energy effi­ciency tax credit found in our rebates and tax cred­its direc­tory in Jan­u­ary 2011.