The electric grid is a wonderful thing. The engineering behind properly balancing electricity generation with electricity load throughout the day is an amazing feat. The achievement of delivering electricity through transmission and distribution lines from large central generation to every neighborhood is incredible. The workers who keep the power on and brave the worst weather to restore power are to be praised. Our grid, though, is vulnerable to weather, imbalances, and other threats. Preparation and planning for power outages can make sure your home’s critical electricity users are sustainably powered from your own solar PV system.

Mountain View Solar is our region’s leader in home battery systems with more than a decade of installing home battery systems for everything from fully off-grid cabins to suburban homes with HOA’s. Our solar consultants and our in-house applications engineer work to custom-size your battery system to power your specific electricity users. While other companies offer a one-size-fits all approach and often only offer one type of system, our professionals work with you to select the specific solar and battery system for your needs.

Our team is now proud to offer the SolarEdge Energy Hub inverter and SolarEdge Energy Bank battery backup system. Manufactured by the world’s leading inverter maker, the Energy Hub + Energy Bank combination offers homeowners scalable resilience. The beauty of the Energy Hub + Energy Bank combination is it creates a mini “micro-grid” for a homeowner as the system also has the capability to recharge the battery via a generator. This built-in redundancy, with the generator acting as a seldom-used, but important back-up to the back-up ensures your home’s critical users will be powered during the darkest days of winter when solar recharging is the least.

The other beauties of the SolarEdge Energy Hub + Energy Bank system are that:

• it features DC to DC charging for maximum overall efficiency (94.5% round trip efficiency)
• during times of grid connection, the batteries can charge and electricity can be exported to the grid
• it can be paired with SolarEdge’s fast electric vehicle charger for car charging when the power is out

Importantly a typical solar photovoltaic system without a battery will not deliver any electricity to your home during a power outage. A battery system with the capability to disconnect your home from the broader electric grid to create a mini micro-grid in your home is necessary in order to have electricity during an outage, even if you have solar panels.

Our team is excited about adding SolarEdge’s Energy Hub + Energy Bank to our battery offerings which include Tesla PowerWall, enPhase enCharge, and Schneider XW with lithium battery systems. Each battery system has its best use case and our team hears your needs to select the best battery to fit your home and your budget.

Speaking of budget, our team offers 100%, $0 down, financing so your entire solar and battery system can be paid through monthly payments. You can sign a contract with us, we permit, procure, and install your system, we work with the utility to get your system turned on, and you don’t pay anything until your monthly payments start after your system is up and running.

Our in-house solar professionals are here to provide your no-cost system design and would love to connect for a friendly conversation. Contact us today and we can get the ball rolling so you are prepared for the next power outage. Click here to request a free estimate: https://mtvsolar.com/site-evaluation/

*SolarEdge Energy Hub and the images used in this article are (c) SolarEdge Technologies

Clean energy and efficiency is trending. Homeowners and businesses alike are opting for Energy Star appliances and green energy generation such as solar. The reason changes person to person and company to company. Some have a deep concern for the environment. Others like the idea of self-sustainability. Everyone, though, likes the idea of saving money. And that is exactly what solar energy systems do. They require an initial investment, but the return on that investment will be impressive over the long-term. However, if folks choose to make a few efficiency upgrades along with solar, their Return On Investment (ROI) can be substantially more significant. In addition to the major upgrades discussed below, there are also multiple smaller improvements a homeowner can make to further increase efficiency and savings.

Who is mtvSolar?

Mountain View Solar (mtvSolar) is your local West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania solar and energy storage contractor. Our primary products include solar energy systems and battery backup solutions. In addition, our trained team of professionals can discuss efficiency upgrades that in combination with solar can not only reduce your carbon footprint, but substantially increase the overall ROI for your solar energy system. We can recommend trusted local contractors for your efficiency upgrades.

mtvSolar has always been a leader in green energy initiatives. We started our journey as premier builders of energy efficient homes before making the shift into renewable power generation. We take energy efficiency and green energy initiatives very seriously and will help maximize the impact of your solar installation.

Grid Tied Solar 101

Any amount of solar will directly reduce your electricity bill. Standard grid-tied solar works by offsetting energy consumption, which results in monthly savings. During the day, your meter “spins backwards”, and at night it “spins forward”. This is called net-metering. Think of the utility as a bank account. You deposit and withdraw energy from it each day, and only get billed for what you use. It is possible to produce enough power to essentially eliminate your entire bill; this is called going “net zero”.

The monetary benefits for solar energy come in a few ways. Each month that you are saving money on your bill (avoided cost of electricity) pushes you toward having received your initial investment back (referred to as the Return On Investment, or ROI). Premium solar panels can last well over 40 years, so if you “pay yourself back” in less time than that, you actually earn money on your solar panels for any time after the initial payback. In this area, typical ROI is 10-12 years. It’s important to note that any size grid-tied system up to the maximum required to net-zero your home will have a similar payback period, with larger systems providing a greater reward after full payback is obtained.  In fact, solar even works in winter (https://mtvsolar.com/does-solar-work-in-winter/)

Gas Appliance Upgrades

Many homes use gas to power just a handful of heating appliances. Rocky Mountain Institute found that over two-thirds of gas used in a house is for space heating—the rest is split between water heating, clothes drying, and cooking. Water heating, space heating and clothes drying are all available with high-efficiency heat pump technology. If households made this switch, they could reduce their annual carbon emissions by 25% or more.

The financial benefit can be surprisingly large. Because, yes, while getting off gas is great for the environment, it is also fantastic for a homeowner’s bank account. The savings start flowing in as soon as a household discontinues their gas service, as many states levy gas connections. In fact, the monthly fixed charge for a connection can be so high that discontinuing it saves a homeowner more than $300 per year—and that is not including the amount of gas that they actually purchased.

The challenge for households, when they choose to cut off their gas connection, is finding ways to complete all the jobs that gas used to power. While it is pretty straightforward to transition a home to all electric, these upgrades will require the purchase of new appliances. For many households, where old appliances are eating up both gas and electricity, this is a very natural transition as they slowly trade out old appliances for new, Energy Star versions.

About “old-skool” Electric Appliances

Standard resistance water heaters, clothes dryers, and cooktops waste large amounts of energy.  That old 1970s refrigerator in the garage?  You don’t really want to know!  Whereas with heat pump type appliances, you put fewer watts in and get even more BTUs out because they literally transfer heat from one place to another, rather than brute forcing the heating with a wire element.  Modern energy star refrigerators, window ACs, dishwashers and more are designed to use less energy and yet, do a better job than the ones of yesteryear.  The remainder of this article makes specific recommendations for upgrading your old gas or resistance electric appliances.

Clothes Drying

Ultrasonic dryers were co-developed through a partnership between the University of Florida, General Electric, and the Department of Energy. Instead of using heat, the dryer vibrates water out of fabric with sound waves, which produces a cool mist and allows fabric to be dried in half the amount of time it takes a traditional dryer. By looking at the market and energy usage, the Department of Energy found that over the course of a decade, if U.S. consumers adopted the ultrasonic dryer, they could save roughly $900 million in energy spending.

Another alternative is a heat pump dryer. This electric dryer option uses heat pump technology to generate the heat used for evaporating the water out of clothes and is ventless, meaning no air or heat is pushed out of the home. The dryer extracts the moisture as condensation via the internal recirculating heat pump technology.  Think of it as a big rotating dehumidifier for your clothes.

Cooking

When it comes to cooking, electricity is a different story. Many consumers will hesitate about switching from gas to electric cooking—gas historically provides more control. And because of this desire to use gas for cooking, they will be reluctant to disconnect their gas. This can then have a snowball effect—if they are still paying for a gas connection, is it really worth it for them to convert their water and space heating systems to electric?

The good news is that there is a good alternative to gas cooking—electric induction cooking. These stoves heat food by creating an electric field with an electric coil. The electric field that these stoves create is unique because it does not heat the actual cooktop and the air around it—it only directly heats the cookware via high frequency electromagnetism. In other words, little energy is wasted, making it about 70% more efficient than both conventional electric and gas stoves. Additionally, because it delivers heat more quickly and it offers the user more control, it provides a cooking experience that is very much like a gas stove.

Water Heating

Heat pump water heaters are one of the best improvements in water heating in a long time. Rather than powering a heating element to heat the water the units use a small heat pump to do so using the same process that a central HVAC heat pump uses to heat your home. In fact, where an ordinary electric water heater can use 5000 watts of power during operation, a heat pump water heater can use less than 500 watts for the same job!

From Energy.gov, “Heat pump water heaters use electricity to move heat from one place to another instead of generating heat directly. Therefore, they can be two to three times more energy efficient than conventional electric resistance water heaters. To move the heat, heat pumps work like a refrigerator in reverse.”

While a quality electric or gas water heater starts around $500, a heat pump water heater runs around $1300. This price difference can be recuperated in just a few years, but if moving from a gas water heater to a heat pump water heater powered by the sun, the realization of ROI is very short.

The Small Things

Even little things like light bulbs add up.  Modern filament LED bulbs give the appearance of an incandescent bulb, but using a small fraction of the amount of energy.

Keeping the central heating turned down just a little, and using a personal space heater can save energy.  There are 300w desktop heaters readily available which will keep you toasty without using nearly as much power as cranking the central unit up.

The Elephant in the Room: HVAC

The Rocky Mountain Institute released a study that changes how individuals should invest in solar energy systems. The study looked at four cities across the U.S. Their goal was to analyze home electrification, both in terms of the financial costs and the carbon benefits.

The study found that in three of the four cities, if homes switched to electric heating it could help lower carbon emissions. The reason for this is that the electric grid in those cities is already clean enough. With solar, however, the situation gets far better.

Modern heat pumps are extremely efficient.  You can still get a simple single stage unit for not a lot of money and still be better off than with an old model, or you can get a two stage unit or even a variable speed compressor known as an “inverter heat pump”.  The variable speed ones are extremely efficient, with the highest SEER/HSPF ratings one can get.

Here is how the numbers break down: The average homeowner will save $24,900 over the course of 15 years, by switching to a high efficiency heat pump with solar —not to mention that carbon emissions can be reduced to zero. This means that even though a solar system and upgraded heat pump can be a $15,000 investment for a homeowner, they will still save nearly $10,000—and this does not include the Federal solar tax credit that homeowners currently get. It also does not include the fact that a solar energy system can power other appliances that used to run on natural gas (i.e. cooking, water heating, etc.).

In Summary

In short, an all-electric home can create substantial savings when it is done efficiently. The return on investment associated with a solar energy system, especially when combined with energy efficient appliance upgrades, surpasses $10,000 in less than two decades, as well as increasing the value of a home.

In the past, reducing carbon emissions was an expensive feat—dropping it down to zero was simply an impossibility. Now, however, with the advent of new appliances and the affordability of green energy, this goal is not only possible—it is also lucrative.

Getting Started

If you have any questions or are ready to consider going solar, please fill out mtvSolar’s free estimate form here:  https://mtvsolar.com/site-evaluation/ or call 540-686-2052 to speak with a live person.  We do not sell or lease your personal information.  Mountain View Solar focuses on a friendly, local, and professional process to ensure a customized approach to your home or business’s energy solutions.  Our highly trained consultants can discuss solar, batteries, and energy efficiency options.

Does Solar Work in Winter?

As the days are noticeably shorter and darker, people may wonder what impact this has on solar production. Do solar panels even work in the winter? In this post, we’ll go over some of the things that you should know about winter solar performance. We’ll discuss examples where solar harvest could be poor, but we believe you’ll be surprised that the performance will likely be better than you are expecting.  Lastly, we’ll discuss how net metering can keep the electric bill at bay year-round.

Solar and Cold, Short Days

The significantly shorter days will reduce the amount of time that your solar panels are exposed to sunlight. This is going to lower the maximum amount of power that they can produce in a given day. The good news is that it is also cold in winter. Many people are under the mistaken impression that solar panels need heat to work. All solar panels need is exposure to sunlight. In fact, heat makes solar photovoltaic cells less efficient. The cold of winter will actually increase the efficiency and power output of your solar panels.

Every increase of about 2 degrees Fahrenheit will result in about 0.05% less energy output from a solar panel. Of course, as stated previously, the opposite is true with cold weather. This is great news because the significantly colder temperatures of winter helps a bit to compensate for those hours that your solar panels are deprived of sunlight. It is important to note, however, that the temperature of the solar panels is not the same as the temperature of the outdoor air. Solar panels tend to be warmer than the ambient environment as they bake in the sun; even during the winter.  However, colder air, especially if it’s breezy, will cool them significantly as compared to summer time.

Solar and Snow

If your solar panels are covered in a couple inches of snow, they aren’t going to work as efficiently. This does not mean that solar does not work in a snowstorm. In addition to being warmer than the ambient outdoor temperature, solar panels are slippery when wet and positioned to catch the most sunlight. Both of these factors help them resist snowfall or eliminate it quickly. Solar panels are also usually installed at a steep enough angle that helps persuade the snow to slide off. Of course, a lengthy snowstorm will eventually get the best of your panels and diminish their crucial power making ability. That said, they will attract enough sun to clear themselves off relatively quickly after the storm ends.

Notice that we said the snow will diminish your power output. It may not cut it off completely until you’ve got at least 3-4 inches built up depending on the density of the snow. That said, even with an inch or two on your panels, some light still gets through and the panels continue making power. In fact, a process known as forward scattering spreads the light out over a larger area as it passes through the snow. You can see a similar effect by shining a flashlight through a sheet of plain glass versus a sheet of frosted glass. This will not negate the loss from the snow cover, but it does help compensate for it in much the same way that the cold weather helps compensate for decreased sunlight hours.

Just The Numbers

After all this, you may still be wondering just how much power you will make in the winter relative to the summer. Sometimes cold hard data is better at setting the mind at ease, so let’s look at some numbers on how a typical 5kW system installed in our service area performs throughout the year.  The data presented is pulled from PVWatts.

In the hotter months, April to September, such a system outputs a range of 641kWh to 571kWh per month. Of those months, July is the most productive at 704kWh.  The total production estimated for this 6 month period is 3949kWh.

Now that we have our baseline of the warm and sunny months, let’s take a look at how the colder, darker months of winter fare. The months of October to March output a range of 522kWh to 588kWh per month. November, December, and January are the lowest producing, with December representing 347kWh. Things start picking back up starting in February and March gives us the higher end of that range. The total estimated power output during those 6 months is 2693kWh.

From this data, you can see that the average solar setup in our service area generates about 68% of the power in the winter months as compared to the summer months. While this is a significant drop in output, it isn’t the massive drop that some people expect from the winter months.

Net Metering To The Rescue

On a sunny day, the energy generated by your solar system may exceed your home or business’s energy requirements. With net metering, this excess energy flows into the public energy grid and registers as a credit on your electric meter. The surplus energy pushed to the public grid will be utilized by your neighbors and others on the grid.  At night, when your PV system is dormant and you need to draw energy back from the public grid (thus reversing the flow) your meter will reverse its direction to register a debit. By the end of the month, these daily credits and debits will have added up to either a net energy debit that you owe the public utility, or a net energy credit that the public utility owes you. Thus the term net metering.

The Billing Cycle

Although the details of the energy billing process with respect to net metering may differ from state to state, there is a common foundation worth mentioning. During each monthly billing cycle, your public utility will show a debit for the energy that flowed from the public grid into your property (highlighted in red in example bill). Conversely, the bill will show a credit for the energy that flowed from your property into the public grid (highlighted in purple in example bill). If the credit exceeds the debit, then the remainder will carry over (i.e. roll over) to next month’s bill (shown here as Banked KWH Credit). Note that although the cost-of-energy component of your current monthly energy bill may be zero in certain cases, you will generally still need to pay a few minor customer fees associated with the billing process. 

Nonetheless, the total in such cases will be smaller compared to your former, pre-solar energy bill. Any residual credit that rolls over from month to month will continue to accumulate throughout the annual billing cycle, except in states with an annual true-up period where the utility cuts a check once a year to keep credits from becoming excessive.

Net Metering and Winter

An appropriately sized system can produce enough excess in summer time that by time winter arrives, a substantial banked credit is built up.  This offsets the winter electricity bill.  If enough credit is built up, it is possible to get through winter without any electricity bill at all – a process called “going net zero”.

mtvSolar will work closely with you to design a system for maximum electricity bill reduction.  If the physical space is available for panels, it is possible to completely wipe out the winter bills with banked summertime overproduction.

Next Steps
If you have any questions or are ready to consider going solar, please fill out mtvSolar’s free estimate form here:  https://mtvsolar.com/site-evaluation/ or call 540-686-2052 to speak with a live person.  We do not sell or lease your personal information.  Mountain View Solar focuses on a friendly, local, and professional process to ensure a customized approach to your home or business’s energy solutions.

Owners of solar photovoltaic systems not only receive the benefit of lower electric bills, but can also generate real income by selling Solar Renewable Energy Credits, or SRECs.  This income can generate anything from “going out to dinner money” to “taking a vacation money”, depending on system size and location.  Importantly, the value of these SRECs can increase or decrease based on market forces and change based on any renewable energy mandates passed at the state or federal level. 

An SREC is the environmental attribute of solar generation.  Basically, it is the claim to the environmental benefits of a solar array.  A person or entity who owns the SREC owns the claim that the system is reducing pollution.  The system owner still receives all of the physical electricity and all of the reductions to the electric bill, but the system owner can sell this environmental attribute to help electric utilities meet their renewable energy mandates.

Solar Renewable Energy Credits represent an additional and separate value, apart from savings on your electric bill.  One SREC is generated from every 1,000 raw kilowatt-hours (kWh) generated by your solar system.  Mountain View Solar ensures homeowners and business owners own the SRECs generated by their system so the system owner receives the greatest long-term benefit, and we never pre-purchase these SRECs.  Our team believes in an ownership model where all aspects of the system, including the SRECs, are owned by the system owner.

We encourage you to explore a deeper understanding of SRECs so you have the best knowledge of this key element of your solar system and this income potential.  We encourage you to explore SRECTrade’s explainer page and Energy Sage’s explainer page for additional information.

Our team offers system owners the option to register their systems with SRECTrade, which is simply a broker who aggregates and bundles SRECs for sale on state-level markets.  Once sold, SRECTrade delivers the revenue (minus a modest commission for brokerage) from the sale of each SREC to the system owner so the owner receives regular monthly deposits (depending on how often 1,000 kWh blocks are generated) to their bank account.  This registration is a simple process, which mtvSolar completes on behalf of our clients, that requires a system owner’s signature to register the system with SRECTrade.  Once registered, the process is a straightforward “set it and forget it” model where the system owner simply receives regular deposits in their bank accounts.

For example, a typical 12-kilowatt solar array that is facing south can generate 15 SRECs per year.  Recent SREC values in the states Mountain View Solar installs in can be found at the below links:

Maryland SRECTrade site with recent pricing (Maryland-generated SRECs sold into Maryland’s market to help meet the Maryland Renewable Portfolio Standard)

Pennsylvania SRECTrade site with recent pricing (Pennsylvania-generated SRECs sold into Pennsylvania’s market to help meet the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard)

Virginia SRECTrade site here (no pricing available due to the recent launch of the Virginia SREC market, Virginia-generated SRECs sold into Virginia’s market to help meet the requirements of the Virginia Clean Economy Act)

West Virginia-generated SRECs sold into Ohio’s market to help meet the Ohio Renewable Portfolio Standard (Ohio SRECTrade site here) or can be sold into Pennsylvania’s market for Renewable Energy Credits (Pennsylvania REC market background here)

As SREC value is highly dependent on market forces and renewable energy mandates, our team recommends system owners in all states own their SRECs.  If a state or federal climate policy is enacted, it may contain a requirement for electric utilities to obtain an increasing percentage of electricity sales from renewable sources.  While Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all have strong SREC markets currently, a federal climate policy may contain a renewable energy mandate nationally which could drive up the value of SRECs generated anywhere in the country.

Our team’s experts are here and ready to provide an honest and professional proposal for a solar system for your home or business including an analysis of your SREC value.

Fire code compatibility is becoming an increasingly more important piece of good solar system design. It is important to work with a solar installer who knows the local codes and who can bring your project to fruition without change orders.

As our region sees more and more rooftops covered with solar panels, local permitting offices are implementing stricter fire codes. These fire codes ensure that firefighters have enough roof space to safely address fires in homes or businesses. An increasing number of local permitting offices are making sure that rescue personnel can walk on the roof without walking on panels and that firefighters can punch through the roof if needed for ventilation. This is accomplished by issuing design guidelines on where roof-mounted panels can be installed.

Mountain View Solar is now starting the design for every residential system to follow the 2018 International Fire Code. This is a key piece of good design, so each project is compatible with the local permitting guidelines for quick permitting approval. Of course, our team monitors all permitting guidelines from local municipalities and counties to allow for additional panels to be added to the roof if the 2018 International Fire Code has not yet been locally adopted.

Some key elements of the 2018 International Fire Code are:

– For PV arrays occupying less than 33% of the plan view total roof area, an 18″ setback is required on both sides of a horizontal ridge. For PV arrays occupying more than 33% of the plan view total roof area, not less than a 36″ clear setback is required on both sides of a horizontal ridge

– For each roof plane with a PV array, a pathway not less than 36″ wide will be provided from lowest roof edge to ridge on the same roof plane as the array, on an adjacent roof plane, or straddling the same and adjacent roof planes

– PV panels shall not be placed on portions of roof that are below an emergency escape or rescue opening (such as a window with a roof plane below it)

– There are many more requirements to meet the fire code and many are building specific as different classifications of buildings have different applicable fire codes and our team is here to guide your system through every step of the way for the best customized design from day one

Our team performs all residential designs internally by our experienced, professional staff. A key piece of the quality of Mountain View Solar projects is that we monitor design requirements of all local municipalities and counties to ensure each project is appropriately designed from the beginning. As the 2018 Fire Code is increasingly adopted as a design requirement for fire safety, we will continue to offer the best design practices to homeowners.

We love having Colleen Wood and Hannah Ehlman on board helping homeowners go solar in our communities. Colleen and Hannah are our newest Solar PV Consultants, joining our team just this past Spring. New to the solar industry, but each with a strong platform in working with people, they dove into training and preparation immediately. As a result – both Colleen and Hannah earned their Solar PV Associate Certification through the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).

Colleen is thrilled to have recently joined the MTV Solar team! Having grown up with a solar water heating system on her childhood roof, Colleen has always been fascinated by the sun’s energy. Her interest in science led her to obtain a degree in Industrial Engineering, which she put to use for many years working for NASA. Always interested in breaking into the solar industry, she was tickled when she learned that her friend, Danny Chiotos, was recruiting for Solar PV sales at Mountain View.

When not at work, you can find Colleen volunteering with her son’s high school marching band. GO BEARS!

Hannah joined the mtvSolar team in April 2021 driven by her interest in sustainability, and passion for community. She plans to dive deep into solar education via Solar Energy International as well as NABCEP training courses in preparation for further certifications.

Hannah is quick on her toes, and eager to help you help yourself by installing solar! When she isn’t working in the office, she loves to spend time with her two dogs. Hiking in the mountains makes her soul happy. When the warm weather hits, you can find Hannah in the woods backpacking. She also has an education in Fine Arts from Frostburg State University allowing a fresh and creative perspective on PV design.

Colleen and Hannah have each developed several solar projects with homeowners in the Mid-Atlantic and are both excited to move solar forward in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia using their NABCEP Associate Certifications to ensure quality projects from start to finish.

Mountain View Solar is excited to partner with the Board of Fishermen’s Hall in Charles Town, West Virginia to launch our newest Community Give Back Program.  This Fishermen’s Hall Program is our first Program in Jefferson County and our only active Program in WV’s three far Eastern Panhandle Counties.  This Program will utilize the innovative install one, give one structure where every time a homeowner or business owner installs solar with us, we will assign a donated solar panel (at no cost either the non-profit or the homeowner / business owner) to the non-profit of their choice.  This community-supported model is quickly becoming a leading way that small non-profits in our communities are going solar and we are excited to launch this newest Program with Fishermen’s Hall.

“We are so excited to be given the opportunity to add needed green technology to our historic building and low income neighborhood.” said Daphne Wahl, President of the Fishermen’s Hall Board of Directors.

Fishermen’s Hall was founded by formerly enslaved residents of Jefferson County during Reconstruction as a way to encourage black wealth and continues to be a black-run community space in Charles Town.  This building was built in 1885 by the Galilean Order of the Fishermen serving organizations such as The Star Lodge Masons, John Brown Elks, Knights of Pythias, American Legion Post #63, and local church services.  Recently, the building was restored by the African American Community Association of Jefferson County to serve as an event space, meeting space, and community center for Jefferson County residents.

With the success of this Program, the Board of Fishermen’s Hall will be able to model sustainability to showcase the impact solar can make so the organization can generate its own electricity and will be able to reduce its electric bills to dedicate more resources into serving the local community.  To participate in this Program and grow the Fishermen’s Hall solar array, simply complete our solar interest form and we will be in touch with you to provide a no-cost proposal for solar on your home or business.

” Mountain View Solar is delighted to partner with such a historically important landmark and support Fishermen Hall’s enduring opportunities to support the local community ” said Mike McKechnie, President and Founder of Mountain View Solar.

For more information on Fishermen’s Hall, please follow the below links:
The Clio
WV Press
Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society site and article including background on FIshermen Hall

[Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, July 21, 2021] — The U.S. solar industry is on the upswing, thanks to a pro-renewables presidential administration and increased concern over climate change. Mountain View Solar has had a front-row seat to this action, with business increasing over the last year. Solar Power World has recognized the company’s installation success by ranking Mountain View Solar at the below listed rankings on the 2021 Top Solar Contractors list.

• Number 1 Solar Contractor in West Virginia, Number 20 Solar Contractor in Maryland, and Number 31 Solar Contractor in Virginia
• Number 61 Solar + Storage Contractor in the Nation
• Number 107 Rooftop Solar Contractor in the Nation
• Number 120 Residential Solar Contractor in the Nation
• Number 283 Solar Contractor in the Nation

The Top Solar Contractors list is developed each year by Solar Power World to honor the work of solar installers in the United States. Solar firms in the utility, commercial and residential markets are ranked by number of kilowatts installed in the previous year. Companies are grouped and listed by specific service, markets and states.

“Not even COVID-19 closures and slowdowns could prevent the solar industry from installing fantastic numbers last year,” said Kelly Pickerel, editor in chief of Solar Power World. “The Solar Power World team is so glad to recognize over 400 companies on the 2021 Top Solar Contractors list that not only survived a pandemic but thrived in spite of it.”

The U.S. solar industry grew 43% in 2020, installing more solar panels on homes, businesses and across the country than any other year on record. The residential market saw an 11% increase, which is remarkable considering the difficulties of maneuvering home solar projects through pandemic precautions. During the past year, Mountain View Solar has added employees and services while continuing to expand renewable energy generation in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia

The federal government passed a two-year extension on the solar investment tax credit (ITC) at the end of 2020, which will further accelerate solar adoption across all market segments. After installing 19.2 GW in 2020, research firm Wood Mackenzie expects the U.S. solar market to quadruple by 2030.

Mountain View Solar employs more than thirty-five workers who, since its founding in 2009, have installed more than 12-megawatts of solar. Mountain View Solar continues to be our region’s leader in custom, local, and quality solar and battery installations throughout the residential, non-profit, public, and commercial setting.

“Our entire team is proud to be a part of expanding clean energy right here at home,” said Mountain View Solar’s President Mike McKechnie. “As we look to the coming years of rapid growth in renewable energy, we are looking forward to opening up more employment opportunities for local residents and towards being a part of making good projects happen.”

About Solar Power World

Solar Power World is the leading online and print resource for news and information regarding solar installation, development and technology. Since 2011, SPW has helped U.S. solar contractors — including installers, developers and EPCs in all markets — grow their businesses and do their jobs better.

Community supported solar is now live and working in Capon Bridge, West Virginia at The River House. Through an innovative partnership with The River House, Mountain View Solar have completed our first Community Give Back solar project. Every time a homeowner or business owner installed solar with us, they have the option to assign a donated panel (at no added cost to them) to a partner Community Give Back non-profit organization. In this project, enough people assigned their donated panel to The River House to fill their roof with solar. With $0 paid for the entire project, The River House is now generating electricity from a full roof of twenty-four solar panels.

The River House is Mountain View Solar’s flagship Community Give Back Program and was the location where we installed our first fully donated community-supported array. The River House has been an active champion of solar through holding events and spreading the word about this Community Give Back Program since its launch more than three years ago. As a key hub of arts and community in Hampshire County (with an amazing café!), The River House has been an ideal partner. The River House is a non-profit organization which would not benefit from incentives such as the federal tax credit without available funds to purchase a solar array (funds are directed into implementing its mission), this no-cost program was the perfect way to implement solar.

“It feels really good to incorporate renewable energy as a part of who we are as we strive to be green. This project means that the people in the community supported in our program with their own solar installations to give back to us. This solar system will help save money on our electric bill which seems like a simple thing, but every dollar matters to us, being a non-profit.” said Executive Director Johanna Murray.

See the history of this project below:

• We installed eight panels, the inverter, and all system racking with a ribbon cutting event and Solar Open House event in October 2018
• We added two panels and spoke with students from Capon Bridge Middle School on what solar is and solar as a career to explore in April 2019
• We added five panels and spoke with the Frederick County, VA Economic Development Authority to profile careers in the solar industry in September 2020
• We completed this project in April 2021 – woo hoo!

We are grateful for the below list of panel donors who went solar with us:

• Ralph Priesing
• Booth Dyess and Ibi Hindrichs
• Donna Catt and Marlene Gallo
• Andy & Jane Arnold
• Rick Purvis and Shelley Alger
• Geoffry Wendel
• Glenn & Carolyn Bland
• Roya Milotte
• Terry Mayhew
• Fertig Farm
• Tim and Beth Reese
• Wood House Research
• Sarah and Richard Bell
• Richard Miles
• Sunit Patel
• Lou Martin
• Anonymous Donor

We are now engaged with the Capon Bridge Public Library to explore the next Community Give Back project in Capon Bridge as a part of our ongoing commitment to spread no-cost solar to small and medium sized organizations in our communities. In addition, we are glad to continue our active Community Give Back Programs with the Friendsville (MD) Renewable Energy Effort which has currently brought the installation of a no-cost system at the Friendsville Fire Department, the Kids Club and the Laurel Center in Winchester which both have no-cost systems up and running that are being added to, and the Wardensville Garden Market which has an active Program.

Read more about our Community Give Back Program here and sign up here for your free, friendly, and professional solar estimate here so you can be a part of expanding no-cost solar to local non-profit organizations.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•