Equipment Specification

(1) Schneider SW4048 Inverter

(1) Schneider 60-150 MPPT Charge Controller

(1) Schneider InsightHome Gateway

(12) DEKA 8G27 Lead-Acid Gel Batteries

(9) 320w REC Solar Modules (2.88kW)

(2) 320w REC Solar Modules for R&D

(1) Midea 8000BTU Inverter A/C Model MAW08V1QWT

(4) LED Garage Lights 150W, 15000lm

The 16×20 structure was designed to have a 100% south facing roof for the solar modules:

The power system consists of a low-frequency Schneider SW4048, which can deliver 3.8kW continuously, with a 7kW surge rating.  The low frequency design enables it to start induction loads with ease, such as power tools.  It delivers 120/240 split phase AC true-sine power.

The 9 320w solar modules are connected in 3 strings of 3 to a Schneider 60-150 MPPT charge controller, which charges a bank of 12 DEKA 8G27 GEL batteries wired in 3P4S configuration for a usable capacity of roughly 6kWh at C/20 rate and 50% depth of discharge.  It is a 48vdc system.

The building is insulated, with an insulated roll-up garage door, standard entry door, and a window.

The window contains the Midea inverter window air conditioner.  This AC is exceedingly efficient, drawing around 350w at full power and having zero surge.  Much like a mini-split, it ramps up and down smoothly and maintains the temperature at 75f even on a 95 degree day.

The base load, including the A/C in June, consumes an average of 1.87kWh per day.  The 2.88kW of PV can produce up to 6.85kWh on the shortest winter day.  In the event of insufficient power due to extra loads or lack of sun, a generator inlet can be connected to supplemental power from the grid or a portable genset.

Heating in winter is supplied via a propane garage heater.

The real-time monitoring via Schneider Conext Insight supplies plenty of data:

Winchester, VA – Mountain View Solar’s (mtvSolar) installation team arrived early Saturday morning to begin installing an array of 87 solar panels at the Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley. Mountain View Solar completed the installation for free as part of their Community Giveback Program to non-profit organizations.

“We are proud to help out an organization that has such a tremendous impact on the Winchester community,” said Mountain View Solar Founder and CEO Mike McKechnie. “Our installation in 2020 was just the beginning and we’re so glad to complete this project to help the Kids Clubs reduce their energy expenses.”

The Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley offers after-school programming and summer camps for children ranging from elementary school through high school. Many of the children that attend the Kids Clubs live below the poverty line.

“This has been a dream of ours for a long time and it’s amazing to complete this project,” said Sarah Bradley, Director of Development and Marketing for the Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley. “It also gives us a great opportunity to engage the kids with lessons on renewable energy and solar power. We’re looking forward to using the savings that we will receive as a teaching tool.”

Mountain View Solar is a regional solar and battery provider based in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia with satellite offices located in Winchester and Charles Town, West Virginia. Mountain View Solar has served the region by providing customized energy solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, government, and non-profits since 1995.

“The resources that are being saved for the Kids Clubs will allow them to provide more services for the kids,” said Winchester Mayor John David Smith Jr. “The City of Winchester recently adjusted our zoning laws so we can allow more permissible solar energy on buildings and that is an achievement that I am very proud of.”

Mountain View Solar’s Community Giveback Program operates on an “Install One, Get One” model in which every time a homeowner or business goes solar, they can donate one or more panels at no cost to a participating non-profit organization. The Community Giveback Program supports non-profit organizations who want to demonstrate clean energy and reduce their operating costs. Mountain View Solar is slated to continue the Community Giveback Program with other non-profit organizations this summer.

“This 35-kilowatt system is designed to cover 100% of the electricity usage by the Kids Club,” said Mountain View Solar’s Sales and Market Development Director, Danny Chiotos. “The reason why Mountain View Solar partners with the Kids Club is because of the rising prices in electricity, childcare, and family resource needs. The Community Giveback Program is our way of helping a local non-profit that has such a great impact on the community.”

The partnership began in 2019 when Mountain View Solar donated $14,000 worth of the solar panels to the Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley. In September 2020, Mountain View Solar installed 23 solar panels for the Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley. By increasing the non-profit’s solar array to 110 panels, Mountain View Solar will help eliminate the Kids Clubs’ electric bills in order focus all their resources on programming.

“Getting the Kids Clubs to net-zero means the money can go back into the programs for the kids who are more than deserving of this,” said Kerry Allden-Collis, Mountain View Solar’s Inside Sales Manager. “My children are members of the Kids Clubs and the impact that this will have on the community is a legacy that will last for over thirty years.”

For more information on the Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley, please visit https://www.thekidsclubs.org/.

Most hardworking Americans would agree that in a perfect world, the cost of living would always remain low. However, with predicted hikes in electricity rates, customers need a plan of action to combat higher costs and keep more of what they’ve earned in their pockets. As such, solar power is emerging as a viable solution for customers to save money on energy costs and save for their futures. With solar, customers can make the switch from being dependent on other sources of energy to instead becoming the administrators of their own energy supply and a more comfortable way of living.

What’s Happening?

The following sources outline some of the projected changes in electricity rates:

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pennsylvania-electric-generation-costs-increasing-june-1/

“West Penn Power consumers will see a 23.7% increase, up from 7.7569 cents to 9.592 cents per kilowatt hour. Penn Power’s cost will go from 7.082 cents to 8.694 cents per kilowatt hour, an increase of 22.7%, according to the commission.”

https://www.wsaz.com/2022/04/20/appalachian-power-requests-energy-cost-adjustment-psc/

“Currently, the monthly bill for an Appalachian Power residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours is $155.66. If approved as filed, the adjustment would add $18.41 to that amount. The PSC said ENEC can be reviewed every year and often makes up one-third of a customer’s power bill. This request represents an additional 12% on Appalachian Power bills.”

https://www.wdbj7.com/2022/05/03/some-virginia-electric-rates-going-up/

“Beginning May 1, ODEC increased its costs to all its 11 cooperatives by $2.32 per megawatt hour (MWh), or 0.232 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). For a typical residential household that uses 1,000 kWh of electricity monthly, according to the SEC, there will be an increase of close to $2.32.”

Reasons for the Proposed Increases

There are several factors contributing to the need for a rate increase.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission expressed that “higher wholesale market prices for electricity are fueled in part by shifts in supply and demand for natural gas, increasing purchasing costs for electric distribution companies and driving up the price to compare, which accounts for about half of a total utility bill.”

Similarly, Virginia’s Old Dominion Electric Cooperative said “As a result of rising natural gas prices, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) has implemented a rate increase to cover the higher generation costs resulting primarily from those natural gas price increases, according to Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC).”

Power companies are struggling to keep up with the push and pull of supply and demand shifts. Additionally, power generation costs are higher due to the increase in purchasing costs during the production period. These factors combine to create higher utility costs for the consumer.

Escalating utility costs don’t just happen once. As rates continue to climb due to a variety of factors, alternative energy sources become more attractive to home and business owners. If you’re a frustrated consumer paying more for electricity due to increases beyond your control, consider going solar. The return-on-investment is gradual, and over time it produces significant savings for your home or business.

Benefits of Going Solar

With Mountain View Solar, understanding how solar works is made easy thanks to our highly experienced staff. We’ll show you how making the transition to solar power provides you with energy independence and how it results in economic and environmental benefits, such as:

Energy Independence:

• Owning your own energy source
• Reduced dependency on fossil fuels
• Reduction of the nation’s dependency on imported fuels

Economic Benefits:

• The Return-on-Investment (ROI) is typically 10-12 years
• Free energy once the ROI is realized with expected system lifetime of 40+     years
• Reduced uncertainty in energy costs

Environmental Impact:

Zero greenhouse emissions—To put this in perspective, a 5-kilowatt system installed in WV can offset the annual greenhouse gas emissions of one vehicle.

Mountain View Solar Can Help!

Choosing the best solar option for your home or business is easier than you think, thanks to our helpful and professional staff. We provide custom free estimates, and we can also provide you with financing information. Our financing options include $0 down options where you own your system. These financed systems can be cash positive from year 1 and are paid for it through fixed monthly payments which are often less than your electric savings + solar renewable energy credit income.

Take Note: Be cautious of companies encouraging solar system leases—you could end up with a 20-year contract or possibly a lien on your home. Solar leases can also greatly affect the sale of a home. At the end of the day, leasing does little to save you money and can result in you losing control over your own roof.

At Mountain View Solar, you can feel safe with the knowledge that you get:

• Quality solar PV system with a 25-year panel warranty
• Professional installation by our experienced, local, in-house team
• A 26 percent Federal tax credit
• SREC income that you keep
• Added value to your home (Pearl Certification)

It is our mission to enable people throughout the region to utilize solar energy to experience energy independence and environmental stewardship. We also believe strongly in education and community outreach. Over the course of our 13 years, we’ve assisted businesses both small and large and helped owners of homes of all sizes. You’ll find the same dedicated level of Mountain View Solar customer service no matter the size of your home or business.

Solar energy is here, it’s exciting, and it benefits you and the environment. At Mountain View Solar, we make sure that we provide you with a free estimate that is easy to understand. And, we’re always open to and available for questions or concerns—something you don’t always find with utility and solar leasing companies.

If you’re ready to take control of your energy costs, contact us today. Life is busy enough—the rate increase you battle today will most likely reappear as utility companies struggle for financial footing. Not only does going solar improve your ROI in the long run, with the installation of batteries it provides invaluable peace-of-mind in the event of a power outage.

Mountain View Solar is a family-owned company based in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. We are also licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Let us help you decide upon the best solar option for your home or business. By investing now, you’ll be on the right path to a strong ROI and, best of all, energy independence you can rely on! It’s a win-win!

Choosing your solar contractor is as important as that of any other major home improvement.  Solar energy systems require specialist knowledge, especially if batteries and generators are involved.  Mountain View Solar has been operating purely as a solar installation company since 2009 (previously, we built green homes as Mountain View Builders).  During your sales visit, there are questions that you can ask to help ensure that the company you’re dealing with is reliable and can be trusted to do the job properly.

Solar is an electrical job.  The system must be installed according to the current National Electric Code (NEC), and by experienced workers to be safe.  The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) was established specifically to ensure that installers have the knowledge to do the work properly.  There are various NABCEP certifications, but the one you’ll want to see associated with the installation team is “NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional”.

We know there may be other contractors fighting for your business.  To help you make a sound decision, here is a list of questions to ask a potential contractor for your project:

• Who will install my system?
• Are those involved with my project employees of the company? If not, are all subcontracted laborers fully licensed and insured?
• Do members of your installation team hold a NABCEP Installer certification?

• Do you have a local business location?
• How long have you been in business?

• Do you hold all applicable local and state licenses?
• Can you provide a certificate of insurance showing me as additionally insured for the period of time you will be working at my property?  Contractors should hold valid general liability, automobile, and workers compensation coverage.
• Do you handle all the permitting, inspections and interconnection paperwork and fees?

• What happens if something goes wrong with my system?
• Do you handle warranty claims with the manufacturer?
• Do you have a dedicated service team?

• What does your installation portfolio look like?
• Can I inspect some real examples of your work?
• Can I talk to previous customers?

• Do I get to keep the tax credit and SREC income from my project?

• How do you support the local community where you operate?

There is no way around it, maintaining a home is a massive undertaking. It takes patience, hard work, and considerable planning. However, if certain aspects of home upkeep are handled routinely, significant advantages can be seen at the time of sale. This can include everything from getting regular maintenance, such as power washing or repainting, to obtaining efficiency certifications, such as Pearl. Some of these upgrades not only improve efficiency, but can actually generate profit in avoided utility costs, as solar does. This often increases the value of the home by a significant percentage and when it comes time to sell, you’re one step ahead in the market. We will be focusing on the PEARL Solar Certification in the following pages.

What Is Pearl Certification?

Pearl Certification is a national firm that provides third-party certification of high-performing homes: homes with “performance assets” that make them healthy, safe, comfortable, energy and water efficient. Pearl Home Certification, which has raised more than $4.5 million from private and institutional investors, was accepted into the prestigious National Association of Realtors Reach Accelerator program in 2017.

The certification is highly regarded for two main reasons. The first is the partnership that it has with the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. Pearl is the only private certification firm to sponsor the program. The second reason is the strong partnerships that the certification holds, including with ENERGY STAR, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Building Performance Institute, the National Association of Realtors, the Appraisal Institute, and Efficiency First.

How Does The Pearl Certification Work?

Pearl focuses on a few specific areas of the home, including the building shell, heating and cooling, electrical baseload, home management, and of course, solar. A homeowner can apply for certification on their own, or a contractor making an upgrade can apply as a value added service, as mtvSolar intends to do upon request for new solar installations in the West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania service area.

If you as a homeowner want to apply for certification, prior to starting the process, Pearl suggests that homeowners take the pre-qualification survey. This brief assessment helps to identify whether a home will likely qualify for the certification or not. In other words, it saves both the assessor and the homeowner time. It asks questions about when the home was built, its heating fuel, if it has a solar energy system, and whether it was built to a higher standard (i.e. ENERGY STAR, HERS Index Score, etc.). At the moment, one of the reasons that Pearl Certification may not be able to certify a home is because of the state it is located in. Although Pearl is able to serve more than 100 million homes across America, there are still some states that the firm is expanding into. Pearl is available, however, in all states in which mtvSolar operates.

Once the pre-qualification survey is passed, homeowners can schedule a certification visit. During the visit, a professional awards a set number of points for every high-performing asset in the home. These assets include smart thermostats, solar power systems, ENERGY STAR appliances, insulation in the walls and attic, and heating and cooling systems.

The certification is very precise in terms of how it awards points. It does not view all high-performing equipment equally. The assets that are higher quality and more efficient are given more points. For example, double-pane windows do get some points, but double-pane low-e windows are awarded more, and triple-pane are awarded even further. Every type of asset has a similar weighting system.

Once the points are awarded and added up, there are three levels of certification possible. The lowest level sits at 700 points. Homes that receive this many points are called Pearl Silver Certified. These homes need to either have insulation or strong heating and cooling features. The next level of certification is Pearl Gold, at 825 points. These homes are often more modern and have very good heating and cooling, as well as a good building shell/insulation. The top level is Pearl Platinum at 975 points. These homes will go beyond qualifying as Pearl Gold by also having efficient and smart appliances, lighting, monitoring devices and solar panels.

mtvSolar will apply for the Pearl Solar Certification on every customer’s behalf if requested during contract negotiations. The Pearl Solar Certification will be listed with Pearl as a Pearl Certified Asset, covering the solar panels, inverters, EV chargers and batteries if applicable.

The Benefits Of Pearl Certification

Pearl Certification is about much more than a slip of paper that states just how efficient and safe a home is. It allows for more clarity and understanding, both for the homeowner and for any potential home buyers. There are a handful of other benefits that can be associated with the certification as well.

1. Increased Home Value

While certification proving the efficiency of a home will always assist in the valuation process, Pearl Certified homes are regularly valued higher. In fact, a recent study found that when a home is Pearl Certified, it sells for 5% more. In the end, this means that a homeowner can walk away with thousands of extra dollars in their pocket. Your Pearl solar certification will come with an accompanying letter for an appraiser, assisting them in the understanding of how solar has a tangible value. Without this letter and Pearl certification, many appraisers don’t understand the value of solar and can’t consider it in the final number.

2. Increased Home Performance

When an assessor reviews a home for certification, it is very similar to an energy audit—just on a much broader scale. It not only looks at the home’s energy performance, but also how healthy, comfortable, and safe it is. This comprehensive review allows the assessor to provide feedback to the homeowner. Not only will they provide an accurate score, but they can also let the homeowner know about additional improvements that they could make. These improvements will both help the home earn more points needed to reach a higher Pearl Certified level and also end up saving the homeowner money by making the home more efficient and more salable.

3. Easily Combined With Home Improvement Upgrades

Pearl has partnered with the best contractors around the country to combine services. Pearl handpicks a handful of elite professionals in each city to be a part of its Advantage Network. These contractors are stringently screened for their customer engagement processes, consumer ratings, quality control processes, and professional training.

In the end, using a Pearl Advantage Contractor allows consumers to rest easy, knowing that they are getting the best and most reliable product available from a reputable contractor. Additionally, after the contractor has completed installation, they provide a Pearl Certification report and documentation for appraisal as an extra benefit to the client.

Mountain View Solar is your local Pearl Advantage Contractor. With the installation of any solar power or energy storage system, customers will receive a Pearl Solar Certification for their array. Not only are they getting enhanced efficiency for their home from a contractor that they can trust, but they are also getting documentation that will enhance the value of their home.

For more information on the Pearl Certification, the Pearl Solar Certification, or Mountain View Solar, please contact us today! Our team of zero-pressure consultants can answer any questions that you may have and conduct a free site evaluation.

Here is an authentic Pearl Certification Report (personal info redacted):

Click here to get your FREE ESTIMATE today !!

Even during an outage!

With the meteoric rise in costs of gasoline being fueled by current world events, the time has never been better to consider a shift from fossil fuels to electricity for transportation.

The popularity of electric cars has skyrocketed; news outlets love to track the rapid rise of Tesla and its luxury vehicles. In addition to purely electric cars, there are many varieties of plug-in hybrid cars that are reducing dependency on gasoline and diesel such as the Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt.  Aside from Tesla, all major automobile manufacturers now have at least one electric vehicle offering to choose from, including sedans, SUVs and pickup trucks.

While it’s true that even coal-fired power plants generate power more efficiently than a single combustion engine, electric cars still rely on energy that produces greenhouse gasses in most areas. If you are powering your car via a home outlet rather than the gas pump, those watts still cost money, though much less per mile than traditional fuel would, and still cleaner than burning gasoline or diesel.

One of the ways to truly get the most sustainability and financial benefit from your electric car is to install a solar photovoltaic energy system on your home or office building alongside the EV (electric vehicle) chargers.

Powering an electric car with your home or office PV system will speed up the ROI, and projects to pay for itself within 7 to 10 years, according to EnergySage, despite the extra cost for solar panels. Given that mtvSolar’s quality solar panels will produce usable power for over 40 years, there will be many years in which this system is paid off and generating extra benefits.

As more electric cars are added to the roads, solar-powered electric car charging stations are cropping up, sometimes free for public use. Large businesses are adding EV chargers to encourage their employees to drive to work with an electric car. As these items grow more and more common, they further reduce the cost to an electric car owner.  mtvSolar has installed a few such chargers around our service area.

With a grid-tie system, even when not using all the electricity generated for the home and electric car, one can be putting energy back into the utility grid for others to use, adding to the savings. Net metering gives a special benefit to solar energy producers.

Generally speaking, one needs to charge their car after work, at night, when the sun is down. Even so, an electric car can be powered by the sun.

In West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, the laws are such that residents who produce solar power during the day at their homes can get back the excess during the night at a 1-to-1 ratio. “Net metering” refers to measuring how much energy left the grid and entered the grid from a particular home over the course of a month and finding the net change. This means a customer is only charged for the total extra energy pulled from the grid. In the event of overproduction, the owner is given an energy credit to be used later.

The bottom line is that even though the exact same electrons an array produced during the day aren’t the same ones charging the car at night, the utility acts like a giant battery, effectively storing the daytime solar energy for use at night.

When you upsize your solar capacity enough to accommodate one or two electric cars, you do incur additional costs, but you also cut the gasoline or public electric-charge costs, generating a steady stream of savings. Electric vehicles provide other benefits, including requiring much less maintenance, and solar energy systems also qualify for valuable tax credits that make your money back even faster.

A solar power system and an electric car are investments, but they are investments that compound the positive returns for each other.  Let’s take a look at an example on how the typical American can gain vehicle energy independence.

On average, electric cars consume 34.6kWh to travel 100 miles, or 0.346kWh to travel 1 mile.  The typical driver drives around 13,500 miles per year.  The total kWh then needed to charge a commuter’s electric car is 4,671kWh annually based on that 34.6kWh per 100 miles average.  A solar array of around 3.5kW will produce enough power to recharge the car for free over the course of a year.  And since the quality solar modules installed by mtvSolar are warrantied for 25 years and expected to last decades longer, your clean energy source will outlive the life of the typical car a few times over.

But what happens when the power goes out?  Modern solar technologies such as SolarEdge EnergyHub or Tesla PowerWall can charge your car during an outage.  The SolarEdge solution is the most leading edge of all current technologies, allowing direct conversion of solar energy to power for the car charger, without drawing down house batteries or being converted by the inverter.  mtvSolar has extensive experience installing solar powered electric car chargers that can operate during an outage.

Maintenance costs on electric cars are minimal, with costs for oil changes, spark plugs, exhaust system, and fan belts non-existent. This means less money spent on maintenance, and also means less materials used in total to operate your car, furthering your reduction of your carbon footprint. Even brakes last much longer as modern electric cars use a system known as regenerative braking, feeding energy back into the battery each time you stop. And last, once the car battery packs are past their useful life, they can have a second life as stationary storage or be recycled.  In fact, mtvSolar is installing systems right now that use recycled EV batteries for stationery purposes.

Want to know more about how to combine solar and an electric car charger? We install quality solar modules, car chargers, and home batteries regularly, using the safest technology on the market.  Contact us today for a FREE consultation: https://mtvsolar.com/site-evaluation/

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.