All communities on the Front Range of Colorado require new homes and for that matter new solar system at the homes to be engineered to withstand hurricane force wind that are occasionally flowing off the mountains to batter this area. In 11 years that I have been building solar system I have never heard of [...]
Yes, that portion of the roof under the solar array will no longer age. The normal process of asphalt shingles degrading over time is caused by rain and wind knocking the small granular stones off the asphalt and then the sun’s UV rays eat away at the asphalt exposing the underlayment. Once a solar system [...]
If the array is installed by a qualified installer using a flashed attachment then absolutely the solar system will not damage your roof. In fact the portion of the roof under the solar system will never age any further as the harmful rays of the sun and force of rain no longer can get to [...]
The Inverter you choose is one of the key decisions you will have to make when deciding on what type of Photovoltaic system you want. The Inverters convert direct current (DC) electricity generated by solar panels into alternating current (AC) electricity that your home runs on. More important than the photovoltaic panels you select, the [...]
It depends on the age and condition of your existing roof. If you have a wood shake roof the answer is most definitely yes. If you have asphalt shingles and they still have half of their life remaining I would say you are fine installing a solar PV system on it. However, it would not [...]
The quintessential question of how long will it take to break even on the investment in a PV solar system varies, but it is typically in the range of 8-11 years for residential and 4-7 years for commercial. Some of the variable factors affecting the payback are: a larger system costs less per kilowatt installed [...]
The simple answer is not really. All a customer really should care about is can enough solar panels be placed on the roof to power the home completely for the entire year and does the panel manufacture have an industry-standard warranty. If the less expensive, lower efficiency panels can not produce all the power needed [...]
Yes, and since your home’s air conditioner will consume on average $14 dollars of electricity for every hour the compressor runs you can be making that electricity all day with your Photovoltaic system while the sun shines. And one of the great side benefits of a solar system is your air-conditioner will not run as [...]
In the first half of 2016, solar accounted for 26% of all new electric generating capacity brought on-line in the U.S. The new U.S. Solar Market Insight report shows the market growing 43% year-over-year with 2,051 MW of solar photovoltaics installed in Q2 2016 in the U.S. According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries [...]
2020 is the last year the federal government will be offering the full 26% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar power systems. In the coming years, the ITC will continue to drop. This diagram shows the decline of the ITC between now and then. So, what does this mean for home and business owners thinking [...]
