Perfect Power Solar - Phoenix, AZ

What You Don’t Know About Solar Electricity Will Cost You

by The Energy Doctor©

John R. Balfour, BS, MEP, Ph.D., LEED Accredited Professional

What you don’t know about Solar Electricity, aka PV, Photovoltaic technology, can be a very expensive lesson. Most solar installers are called integrators. How they chose products and design systems will result in how many kilowatt hours per dollar (kWh/$) you produce. System Performance is the number of kWhs per dollar spent over 20 years including all the costs for maintenance. Selecting the right technology mix for your climate, performance design and proper installation, results in superior savings.

PV has been around for decades. Its technologies have developed rapidly while improving over the past decade. Yet, not all technology is appropriate for all locations. Making the right decisions with the best information gives you a substantial level of energy independence and risk reduction. It provides homes and businesses with great cash flow and moderate to great ROI’s…Or you can make a marginal to poor decision.

In my E-Book, 12 Questions You Absolutely Need to Answer Before You Buy A Solar Electric System!©, I address many of the tough questions you need to answer before you write a check. This is based on my experience in the solar industry since 1977.

In a world of too much “Green Washing”, being green in my world is about getting our customers the best value for the right price, not the cheapest price. Best practices in the PV world are a moving target and require hard questions, hard decisions and clear goal setting.

For example in:

Chapter 1: How Much do I know about Solar Electric Systems and Equipment?

If you read the marketing brochures for most manufacturers, they all seem to offer the best, most efficient product available. What do those numbers mean? Can they all be right about being the best and most efficient? Before you buy a PV system, you may wish to know that all solar panels are tested at 77 degrees Fahrenheit in a lab.

Just about the only time your panels will see that temperature is on a cloudy day in the winter. Our spring, fall and summers tend to provide the panels with more energy in the form of heat. Heat degrades system performance!

FACT: Most of the year your panels will be operating at 180-200 degrees F.

As temperatures rise, voltage and performance (kWh per $ spent) goes down.

FACT: Most technologies and systems do not work well in the heat.

Selecting the right technology, and design, asking the tough questions, and making informed decisions will result in receiving better savings but not at the lowest cost.

FACT: How your PV panels are installed will impact how many kilowatt hours you collect.

If you think that PV technology is a commodity, it’s like believing that all automobiles should be solar at the same price per pound. What did you pay per pound for your car? All products perform differently. Choosing the right product for a hot environment, sizing components properly and installing them effectively is all about the bottom line.

In good design, airflow cools the panels improving performance as it allows convection and wind to pass under the panels. Too small of an air space between roof and panels will cost you many times more than designing appropriately. The real impact of flush mounting and the installation of integrated roof tiles will lengthen your payback and shorten the system life.

Chapter 2: Am I looking strictly for price, or quality and service? What is the difference and why is it so important to me?

- Is there a relationship between price and quality?
- How many PV systems have you bought in the past to develop your experience level?
- What are you buying?
- What do you expect your system to do?
- How much energy will it really make and for how long.
- How long do you expect your system to last?
- What about maintenance?

Most systems are only designed based on price.

Tradeoffs for price include: buying the lowest cost equipment, assembled parts not, a well integrated working system, components which meet the lowest required codes and standards, generally from a company with little to no service. Prepare yourself with low expectations.

Purchasing a system that generates the highest return requires design skill and experience. Your payoff is greater cash flow, lower maintenance (yes there is maintenance), longer system life and more energy. What do you want?

The selection of the correct products is critical. System sizing, inverter loading and meeting developing performance standards for our local environment are not in the manual. Today, there is no national standard for system design, reliability or performance.

The USA has no “reliability” standard, only the UL safety standard. You must meet the European TUV standard to have reliability addressed in PV panels. At this time there is a product “quality gap”; basically Subprime Solar. It can impact your family or business when buying a lower quality product that can not be sold in many other countries. …Yes, quality and performance is reflected in price.

How long will your system last?

Depending upon solar panel brand and type, manufacturing quality, installation type and quality, your panel life range is somewhere between 10 and 50 years. Many manufacturers play the reduce quality and reduce risk by lower “manufacturer defects” warrantees from 10 years to 1, 2 or 3 years.

Depending upon the system design and loading of your inverter/s, the inverter will last from 7 to 20 years. Some inverters, especially commercial inverters will allow for component replacement and upgrading. Most will be ready for the trash prematurely. Many will be out of warranty during the first summer.

Inverter loading, panel string sizing (how many groups of panels you put on an inverter to get the right voltage) has a major impact on energy collection and inverter life.

When you do not take the time to educate yourself, your money is at risk.

In Chapter 5: What is my goal in buying a PV system?
In Chapter 7: Am I ready to commit the financial and or time resources to a complete system? Do I want a scaleable system which I can grow over time?
In Chapter 9: Are there any incentives to offset the price of my system, and if so, where do I find out about them?

What You Don't Know about Solar will Cost You

Learn to avoid the pitfalls most customers never find out about until it's too late... Straight from John Balfour, The Energy Doctor^©

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