How do solar PV systems work?
Solar electric systems generate electricity silently and without any moving parts. Sunlight falls on the solar panels generating DC electricity. That DC electricity is converted into household 120/240V AC electricity by the inverters. The AC electricity is fed into your electric meter and circuit breaker panel. The electricity either goes to your appliances and lights, or to the grid, or some to each. This all happens silently and automatically every day.
At night and during cloudy weather, the solar system's output is reduced or stopped; however, your home then gets electricity directly from the utility grid. You're always connected to the grid, so you can have as much power as you need, any time you need it, regardless of whether the solar system is able to put out any power.
When the sun is shining, the power produced goes to reducing your usage at the time, or, if there is excess, to spinning the meter backwards, counting down your electric use and bill. You will enter into a “net-metering” agreement with your utility that allows this to happen seamlessly. Some months you may find your system generates more power than you use. This is fine, the utility looks at how much electricity you generate over a one year period and will credit you during a month you produce more than you use.
One common misconception is that the PV system will work during a blackout. This is not true. Your PV system needs grid power to operate. It actually syncs itself to the electrical frequency of the grid so when the grid is down, it automatically turns off. When power is restored, your system will restart automatically.
What is Net Metering?
What is Net Metering? Net metering is a system that allows your meter to spin backwards and forwards, crediting you when you produce solar power, and debiting you when you use utility power. This way the utility can bill you only for the electricity you use and allow you to sell back your excess solar electricity to the utility. In effect, the grid becomes a giant “battery” with no losses, storing your excess energy and giving it back to you whenever you need it.
With all the changes to technology and government incentives, is this the right time to install a system?
While it’s true that the cost of solar technology is dropping, it’s also true that incentives are dropping as well. In February, NYSERDA lowered its rebate by $1/watt, far more than the drop in solar equipment prices so the net effect was actually to raise prices for the consumer.
Is there enough sunshine in this area for solar?
Yes, the tri-state area has only about 20% less sunshine (insolation) than Florida. Germany, the country with the most solar PV installed has less insolation than Seattle, one of the darkest spots in the US.
Is it safe?
Yes, solar PV is very safe. Solar electric systems have been installed all over the world for decades. All our components are UL listed and our installations comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC). Our systems are particularly safe as we use micro-inverters so there is no high-voltage DC electricity.
What are microinverters and why are they better?
An inverter changes DC to AC electricity that your appliances use. Traditional systems use string inverters that are subject to DC wiring losses, module mismatch, high replacement costs and other loss factors and design limitations. A micro-inverter is a small inverter that is located behind each solar panel. The micro-inverter maximizes the power for that particular panel and reports the data to a web based monitoring system. We can track the performance of each panel/inverter and remotely diagnose any issues it may have. If performance changes for a panel, it may be an indicator that debris is on a panel and is reducing it’s output. This level of performance and analysis is only available with micro-inverters. Our microinverters also come with a 25 year manufacturers warranty and a 100% uptime guarantee.
What happens during a power failure ?
During a power failure your PV system will shut down to ensure the safety of utility workers who may be working on the line. Once power is restored, it will automatically turn itself back on.
What if I produce more electricity than I use?
If you produce more electricity than you use, as may happen during summer months, it will be sold back to the utility and your meter will spin backwards. (see net-metering) The utility looks at your usage for the entire year and credits accrued during a summer month will be applied against the next month’s bill, ensuring that none of your energy is wasted.
Will the PV system cover my whole electric bill?
Typically no. Although we have built systems that generate 100% of our customer’s usage, it is rare that we have both enough roof space and a small enough bill to be able to completely eliminate your charges. Typically we see reductions of one-third to two-thirds, depending on the customer. While this can be frustrating to many people expecting to “get rid of their utility,” the reality is that it is still a great investment. We can usually offset $100 to $200 of a customer’s bill each month, and because the systems produce more energy in the summer, when rates are higher and usage is also increased, we often see summer bills fall by as much as $300 while a winter bill may fall by a much lower amount.
What maintenance is required?
PV systems require very little maintenance, typically just hosing the panels off once or twice a year and checking that no debris has accumulated.
How long will my system last?
Our systems are warranted from the panel manufacturers for 20 to 25 years for output and 25 years for the inverters. Panels that were placed in service over 25 years ago are still producing power today. It is expected that modern panels will last well beyond their 25 year design life. Some micro-inverters may need to be replaced from time to time. We factor in labor for warranty replacement to the 25 year cash flow analyses that we provide.
What happens if I sell my home?
Reports from The Appraisers Journal, the Department of Energy and Wells Fargo indicate that for every $1 of electricity that your PV system saves, your resale value increases by $20. Therefore a 4kW system that saves about $1,100 year on electricity will be worth $22,000. As the energy savings increase each year, the value of the system also increases.
How will I know if my system is working properly?
The Enlighten web monitoring system will alert you and us via email if there are any issues with the system.
Who handles all the forms and permits?
Sunrise Solar Solutions handles all the incentive paperwork, the interconnection agreement, and any permits required.
What incentives and tax credits are available?
Incentives include the federal 30% ITC, state ITC’s, utility rebates, subsidized loan programs, and REC programs. Click on the link for your area to see details of your incentives. You can also go to the DSIRE web site listed on our Links page.
What are SREC's?
SREC's are Solar Renewable Energy Credits. SREC’s make your PV system much more valuable. New Jersey requires the utilities to produce a certain percentage of their electricity by solar. This amount goes up each year. Because the utilities have very little solar capacity they can fulfill their requirements by purchasing your SREC's. NJ maintains a trading platform for these commodities and all solar producers in NJ can sell their SREC's through this electronic trading platform. The value of the SREC's changes but NJ publishes the trade prices to make this as transparent as possible. See this web site for more information http://www.njcleanenergy.com, or speak to one of our knowledgeable staff about this program.
Do I need a maintenance contract?
We include a 5 year maintenance contract with each system. The panels are warranted from the manufacturer for 20 or 25 years and the inverters are warranted for 25 years. After your included 5 year contract, we offer a yearly maintenance contract at a reasonable cost.
kW vs kWh
kW stands for kilowatt and kWh stands for kilowatt-hour. A kilowatt (1,000 watts) is a unit of power and is typically used to describe the size of a system. A 5 kilowatt system (5kW) means it is capable of instantaneous peak power output of 5,000 watts. kWh is a measure of how many watts are produced or consumed in an hour. A 100 watt bulb burning for 10 hours will consume 1,000 watt/hours or 1 kWh. A 4kW PV system in our area might produce 4800 to 5000 kWh of electricity in a year.
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Terms
Investment Tax Credit:
An investment tax credit is a credit against the taxes you owe. After figuring your taxes for the year, you deduct this amount directly from the bottom line. An ITC is therefore worth the full amount of its value, it doesn’t reduce your income, it reduces your tax.
Levelized Cost of Solar:
This is a way to compare the cost of purchasing different types of power. We compute the cost of the solar system over its lifetime versus the amount that we would pay to purchase the same amount of electricity form the utility, assuming a specified rate of energy inflation. It allows us to compare apples to apples.
IRR:
IRR or Internal Rate of Return is a financial term that equates how this system would look like as a financial investment. In other words, if you invested x amount in the system, what percent dividend return would this equal.
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