Yes! Shade from tall trees or neighboring buildings or objects is the number one cause of poorly performing solar systems in our area not daylight hours. Professional installers can easily calculate the amount of shade you have for a given area and determine which trees to trim in order to reduce you shading. The [...]
It depends on your electrical consumption and how much you want to reduce it. Also, you will need enough unshaded space with plenty of southern sun exposure, which sometimes can be limited by trees and adjacent buildings. A good rule of thumb is for each kw of solar installed you will get 1,150 kwh [...]
No, batteries are not necessary for grid-tied PV systems.
In grid-tied systems, any excess electricity automatically flows back to the electrical grid and is credited to you at the utility’s retail price.
A practice used in conjunction with a solar electric (PV) system where your electric meter tracks your net power usage, spinning forward when you use electricity from the utility, and spinning backward when your system is generating more electricity than you need. In Pennsylvania it is required by law that the utility companies allow [...]
Grid-tied PV is a solar electricity system that is connected to your utility meter. Solar generated power from grid-tied systems is first used by your home or business needs while any excess capacity is sent to the utility grid (sold at retail price to the utility). During the evening or times when your power [...]
If you are concerned about roof replacement in the next 5 to 10 years we recommend having a new roof installed prior to installation. Two things to consider; the roof under the panels can last twice as long because the sun which degrades your roof is hitting the panels not the roof surface, and [...]
Your roof is the best place since it is high and typically has more unobstructed sun exposure. However, ground mounts and pole mounted units work very well if roof space is not available, but the expense is a little more due to longer wire runs and more construction cost of the mounting assembly. [...]
Sun-generated power is clean — no pollution, noise or fossil fuels. A typical 6 kilowatt system or 80 Gallon Solar Thermal Hot Water system will eliminate 120 tons of carbon dioxide over its 30+ year lifetime.
Most professionally-installed systems will last 30 years or more. Most solar thermal collectors are warranted to last 10 years at nearly 100% of their original production.