Solar power has a reputation for environmental friendliness, and for good reason. A solar panel generates energy by converting sunlight into electricity without emitting the greenhouse gases and other pollutants that come from burning fossil fuels. Even some renewable energy sources can have negative environmental impacts as they generate power, such as the light and noise pollution from wind farms, or potential sea life degradation near tidal energy projects. But not solar panels, which sit on roofs or in open land quietly, cleanly pumping out electrons.

There is, however, another side to the solar power story that can paint a different picture of solar’s environmental impact. For, although solar panels generate clean energy, they can be somewhat dirty to manufacture. And, the solar industry has grown at least in part due to manufacturers shifting production to low-cost locales with lax environmental regulations. As a result, solar panels can have widely varying carbon footprints depending on upon where in the world they were produced.

In this article, we discuss the factors that contribute to the carbon footprint of solar cells, and how mtvSolar goes about choosing only the most environmentally friendly solar panels for our customers.

“Carbon Debt” and Environmental Impact of the Solar Panel Lifecycle

Solar cells and panels do not exist naturally in nature, obviously. They must be manufactured. Manufacturing consumes fossil-fuel generated energy and involves potentially toxic inputs. As solar energy use has grown, so has awareness of the environmental cost of producing solar equipment.

The greenhouse gas-related cost of producing solar panels is sometimes referred to as the “carbon debt” that a solar installation must “repay” before it can deliver environmental benefits. Determining a solar panel’s “carbon debt” primarily involves assessing the volume of greenhouse gases released in:

• Mining and transporting the raw silica from which most solar cells are made (e.g., gas consumed by mining equipment, and trucks, trains, and ocean vessels carrying raw materials);
• Providing the energy consumed by solar panel manufacturing facilities (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas burned by power plants that supply electricity to manufacturers); and
• Transporting finished solar panels to their point of installation (as above, emissions from trucks, trains, and ships carrying shipments of finished solar panels).

In addition, the lifecycle of solar panels can involve other, non-carbon-related environmental impacts. Toxic chemicals are used in the process of producing solar panels and must be disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. The water used in producing solar panels must be treated and may be a limited resource in some manufacturing locations. And, of course, if solar panels are thrown away instead of recycled, they occupy space in landfills.

Manufacturing Location Matters

American home and business owners can limit the “carbon debt” and other environmental impacts of their solar installations by selecting solar panels manufactured close to home. A variety of factors contribute to the relatively low carbon footprint and overall environmental friendliness of solar equipment manufactured in North America. Firstly, environmental regulation in the United States and Canada tends to be far more strict and better enforced than in many other solar cell producing nations. As a result, North American solar panel manufacturing facilities are by and large cleaner and more energy efficient than their foreign competitors, particularly certain competitors located in Asia, where the bulk of cheaper solar panels are made. Also, to the extent North American manufacturers source the silica for their solar cells from Canadian and U.S. mines, their products will also benefit from stricter environmental oversight of mining industries here.

Additionally, sourcing solar panels from U.S. and Canadian manufacturers substantially cuts the carbon cost that results from transporting new panels over long distances. Two functionally-identical solar panels, one imported from Asia into a port on the West Coast and then hauled to West Virginia by truck and/or train, the other manufactured outside of Toronto and driven south over the border, will have a significantly different “carbon debt” to repay based on distance traveled alone. What is more, the cleanliness of transport may differ substantially nation-to-nation. If vehicle emissions standards in Asia, for instance, are less strict than in the U.S. or Canada, then the “first mile” a solar panel travels from an Asian manufacturing facility will cause the release of more greenhouse gases than the equivalent mile traveled from a North American facility.

A 2014 study comparing solar manufacturing in China and Europe (a regulatory environment similar to North America’s) confirms the general premise that solar panels made in higher-regulation locations have a smaller “carbon debt” than their competitors in lower-regulation locales. To be clear, however, as this review from Carbon Brief points out, although solar panels have a carbon footprint that can vary in size, the overall carbon impact of solar energy is tiny compared to carbon-rich energy sources like coal and natural gas. Indeed, a 2016 study argues that over the past 40-years, the worldwide use of solar energy has reached a “break even” point at which the overall “carbon debt” of solar panels has been “repaid.” The net carbon-free benefit of solar can be expected to increase, also, as more solar panel manufacturers use their own solar panels to power their manufacturing facilities.

Our Commitment to Low-Carbon-Footprint Manufacturers

At Mountain View Solar, we aim to minimize the “carbon debt” of the solar systems we install by selling solar panels manufactured by SolarWorld and SilFab, two North American producers with sterling, long-term commitments to making high quality environmentally friendly products.

SolarWorld has been manufacturing solar panels in the United States since 1975. Although it has manufacturing facilities around the world, nearly all of the products SolarWorld sells in the U.S. come from its state-of-the-art, high-efficiency facility in Hillsboro, Oregon. SolarWorld has been recognized as being among the most transparent and environmentally conscientious solar manufacturers in the world.

SilFab manufactures solar equipment at a clean, modern, production facility in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. That location helpfully minimizes the distance its solar panels have to travel to reach our customers in the mid-Atlantic region. SilFab has a 35-year track record of producing some of the most efficient, dependable solar panels available on the market and has consistently been named a Top Solar Panel Products manufacturer by Solar Power World.

Contact Us Today

Here at Mountain View Solar, we like to say that solar power is good for the planet and the pocketbook. We strive to ensure that the solar equipment we install makes the most of both of those benefits by minimizing the debt carbon and financial that our systems stand to “repay”.

mtvSolar doesn’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk. With 30kW of solar installed on our main office, our own carbon load is reduced substantially. In addition, we own multiple plug-in-hybrid and electric vehicles charged from the sun!

Please fill out our free consultation form now to learn more about our affordable, low “carbon debt” solar products. Our zero-pressure sales team can explain our options. mtvSolar is your local West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania contractor, with NABCEP certified employees and all proper licenses and insurance.

The popularity and good economic sense of installing residential solar arrays continueto increase, which is a very good thing for our planet and our pocketbooks. Unfortunately, with that rise have come some persistent myths that we tend to spend a lot of time debunking here at Mountain View Solar. So, we thought it might be a good idea to bring them up and shoot them down for you all in one post.

Myth #1: Solar Is Expensive

This myth comes up in various ways. One is the belief that the upfront cost of rooftop and standalone solar installations makes them too expensive to ever pay for themselves. In fact, in our experience, most solar installations pay for themselves outright in about ten to twelve years depending on how they’re financed.

Another way this myth comes up is in the belief that the per-kilowatt-hour cost of solar energy is high compared to other sources of energy. But that isn’t true either. If you average the cost of energy you can produce from a quality solar installation over its forty-plus year lifespan, the cost is, in fact, far lower than other energy production sources.

Myth #2: Solar Doesn’t Work in Winter

Solar energy production works year-round. True, the days are shorter in the winter time, and so the amount of time a solar installation produces power will be less. But a quality array from Mountain View Solar can still produce enough energy during the daylight hours on December 21 to power a typical mid-Atlantic region home (and yes, they’ll produce power on cloudy days too ‚Äì another myth we hear often).

Also, if your system is large enough, over the course of an entire year it can produce enough energy to meet all of your annual power needs. In the summer, the system will reliably produce excess power, which you sell back into the grid for credits against future energy use, and in the winter you draw down those credits during the longer nights. We call this state of generating and receiving credits for a full year’s energy supply “Net Zero”.

Myth #3: Solar is High Maintenance

We get this one a from time to time. People worry that a solar array is something that requires an endless amount of do-it-yourself tinkering or expensive service calls, like owning a boat or indoor gardening. Not so. A good solar system requires about as much maintenance as an automatic garage door system, which is to say, not much at all.

Our solar systems are designed to produce energy with minimal fuss. Most homeowners find that the only truly regular “maintenance”their solar panels need is a cleaning every once in a while to ensure that dust or debris hasn’t collected on them, reducing their efficiency. Most of the time, you can use a garden hose to rinse them down (if a rainstorm hasn’t done it for you!). Like any household system, it also makes sense to do an annual service checkup of a solar system, but no more so than your standard heating system, for example.

Myth #4: There’s No Net Metering in WV, PA, MD or VA

Net metering is the technical term for exporting the surplus energy your grid-tied solar array produces back to the electric utilities when you are producing more power than your home needs. Utilities typically pay for that energy in credits against your future energy use at times when you’re not producing enough power from solar panels to meet your needs. Net metering is what enables some mid-Atlantic home solar energy producers to achieve Net Zero on an annual basis. As we’ve written here, net metering is available in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The regulations vary slightly state-to-state, but all of them enable you to receive 1-to-1 credit for your excess energy production.

Myth #5: “Going Solar” Means “Going Off-Grid”

This is a corollary to the myth above. Sometimes people think of solar energy as something that’s only useful for people living way out in the middle of nowhere, where it would be too costly to run power lines. While it’s true that solar can be used to take your home “off-grid” completely, for the time being, solar energy is most cost-effective for homeowners when their solar system is tied into the electrical grid. With net metering, this allows them to maximize the value of their system by selling power into the grid on days of excess production in exchange for credits to be used on days (and nights) when solar production doesn’t fully meet their needs.

Myth #6: Solar Panels Generate Electricity From Moonlight

We wish! Moonlight is reflected sunlight, so you’d think it might induce a solar cell to generate power. In fact, a very small amount of residual power may be produced, but not nearly enough to be useful, and certainly not enough to fire up most residential inverters. For now, solar panels are not efficient enough to generate meaningful amounts of electricity from that reflected light.

Myth #7: It’s Hard to Sell a House With Solar Panels on It

This is definitely not the case. As we wrote here, estimates vary by region, but most solar panels add about $3 to home value for every watt they produce or about $15,000 for the typical 5kW system. When a homeowner owns the solar equipment, that value can be passed directly on to a buyer with no complication. (A note of warning, however: if the equipment is leased rather than owned there can be complications in the sales transaction because the lease may have restrictions on transfer to the buyer, who will usually have to get the lessor’s permission to assume the lease.)

Myth #8: Solar Panels I Buy Today Will Become Obsolete Quickly

Quality solar panels have a forty-plus year useful lifespan, and that figure continues to grow as panels become more efficient. Solar panels do degrade over time, but at this point in the evolution of solar technology, the rate of decline is so minimal (between 0.5% and 1% per year depending on the materials in the cells) that the cells will produce ample power for decades after they pay for themselves.

Myth #9: Solar Power Production Rises With the Temperature

You might think that because solar panels convert sunlight into energy, the hotter a sunny day is the more energy a solar panel will produce. That might also lead you to think that it only makes sense to install solar in hot places, like Florida or the desert Southwest. But that’s not the case. In fact, the opposite is true. Heat increases the current produced by a solar cell but reduces the voltage. As a result, as this article from Sciencing.com explains, the energy output from a solar cell actually falls by about 0.4% for every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit rise in temperature. That means that on a sunny winter day in Wheeling, your solar cells will probably be more efficient than the same ones on a rooftop in Tucson!

At Mountain View Solar, we’re always ready to answer any questions or doubts you might have about installing a home solar array. To learn more about the benefits of our premium solar power solutions, contact us today. mtvsolar is your local contractor, with NABCEP certified employees and fully licensed and insured.

As solar energy continues to move into the mainstream, businesses regularly contact us to explore whether installing solar panels makes financial sense. Our answer is nearly always a qualified “yes”. “Yes”, because of solar energy’s myriad benefits over utility-generated power. “Qualified”, because businesses should carefully evaluate their energy needs and the financing options available in deciding upon the appropriate scale and financial structure of any solar investment.

In this article, we examine the most common solar financing options available to businesses, and some of the considerations relevant to each. As always, we invite anyone interested in making a business investment in solar energy to contact us to discuss their specific needs and opportunities. Additional information is available through the Solar Energy Industries Association, to which we’ve linked in several places below. For a more comprehensive treatment of this topic, we recommend reviewing this report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Overview of Considerations for Businesses Considering a Solar Investment

In our experience, the variables businesses commonly consider in deciding whether to make a solar energy investment include the following:

• Current and Projected Energy Needs. The starting point for evaluating a solar energy investment for most businesses is to examine their current and projected needs for electricity over the expected useful lifespan of a solar installation (at least 25 under warranty, and over 40+, years). This often takes into account planned capital expenditures on new buildings and equipment, expansion into new markets, and opportunities to improve operational energy efficiency.
• Potential Savings and Other Benefits of Converting to Solar. Businesses typically evaluate potential long-term cost savings from transitioning to solar against relying on other sources of energy, such as purchasing power from utilities or operating captive, non-solar means of power generation. Often, businesses will also want to study the brand and marketing impacts of relying on solar power.
• Financial Position and Access to Capital. Any business considering a solar investment must consider where the funding for the investment will come from, and the cost of that capital. What makes sense as a financing option for a business will depend, at least in part, on whether the business has the capacity and flexibility to use cash or to borrow to pay for a solar installation.
• Tax Position. A business should evaluate whether it is in a position to take direct benefit from statutory tax incentives available for owners of solar installation, or whether it makes more sense to receive those benefits indirectly through a third party (as discussed below). Solar + storage installations (for demand charge reduction) can qualify for the Federal tax credit in their entirety.

At Mountain View Solar, we routinely help businesses navigate these and other variables to decide on the appropriate financial structure for their investment.

Paying Cash for a Solar Installation

A business with cash on hand may find that the purchase of solar equipment offers an attractive return compared to investment alternatives, particularly if the business is in a position to benefit from two important tax incentives for solar investment. The first is the solar Investment Tax Credit (“ITC”), a 30% tax credit on solar energy investments that begin construction through 2019, which offsets tax liability dollar-for-dollar (the credit incrementally reduces after 2019). The second is a business’s ability to depreciate a solar investment under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (“MACRS”), under which qualifying solar equipment is eligible for a five-year cost recovery period.

For a business with the ability to take maximum advantage of these incentives, the return on a cash investment in a solar installation can be very attractive. In our experience, a business that pays for a solar installation in cash and takes full advantage of available tax incentives will recoup its initial investment through cost savings decades before the end of the equipment’s useful life. Considering that the cost of energy is only expected to rise in the future, investing in a quality solar array thus presents an extraordinary opportunity to lock in long-term benefits that flow directly to a business’s bottom line.

Borrowing to Finance a Solar Installation

While interest rates remain relatively low on a historical basis, for a business with access to credit, borrowing can be a cost-effective alternative to investing cash in a solar installation. Indeed, because a business that borrows to finance a solar investment can still take advantage of the ITC and MACRS discussed above, borrowing instead of using cash can make good financial sense depending on the cost of capital and the business’s other investment opportunities. And, fortunately for business owners, lenders specializing in solar lending continue to enter the marketplace, driving down borrowing costs.

Solar Equipment Leasing & Power Purchase Agreements

Businesses choosing not to make a capital investment in solar equipment, particularly those not in a position to take advantage of solar tax incentives, often elect one of two alternate routes to “going solar”: solar leases and power purchase agreements.

The characteristics of a solar lease will sound familiar to anyone who has ever leased an automobile. In a solar lease arrangement, a third party installs, maintains, and owns solar equipment that supplies power to a business for a fixed term. The business typically pays little or no upfront cost in connection with the installation of the equipment but instead makes periodic payments to the third party based on a notional rate of depreciation. At the end of the lease term, the business may also have the option of purchasing the equipment at an agreed residual value.

Power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) are functionally similar to leases in that they typically require little or no upfront investment by a business, and may include an equipment purchase option. PPAs differ from solar leases in that the business agrees for a period of time to purchase a fixed amount of electricity generated by the solar installation at a pre-agreed cost per kilowatt hour. That rate is often less than the cost of energy purchased from the electrical grid.

In the case of both solar leases and PPAs, the third party owner/operator, rather than the business, receives the direct benefit of the solar tax incentives. The business consuming power from solar arrays under one of these arrangements instead benefits indirectly from the tax incentives through lease or PPA terms that compare favorably to purchasing power from incumbent utilities. This combination of a minimal capital outlay and energy cost savings has proved a win-win proposition for many businesses.

Where To Start

The good news is that mtvSolar can work with you, your accountant, and any other decision makers to determine how solar and optional battery storage can benefit your business. If you’re interested in learning more about commercial solar solutions, our team of experts would be happy to give a presentation to your board. The first step is to fill out our free consultation web form, and a zero-pressure solar business consultant will be in touch promptly.

Every business, no matter how large or small, is constantly looking for ways to optimize costs and reduce overhead. Some methods for accomplishing this are better than others and you know you’ve found an ideal optimization opportunity when you can cut costs without sacrificing something else. One of the most effective ways to bring down your overhead this year is also one of the most popular: energy efficiency. Though you may have accepted, like many did, that the amount of power you use is impossible to change and therefore the cost simply must be accepted, there are actually dozens of methods to reduce your use and your bill. You can replace old appliances with energy-efficient models, maintain your HVAC system, have double-paned windows and doors, and so on.

However, one thing that most companies don’t realize is that there’s an opportunity to lower your power bill without even needing to lower your energy use. Take a look at your last power bill. Is there a special category of fees labeled ‘KW charge / KVAR / billed load’ or something similar? Believe it or not, this isn’t for the power itself but for the maximum amount of power used in a 15 minute interval during the billing period. We’re here today to explain what exactly the power company means by ‘Demand Charges’ and how to reduce them.

How Power Flows

Power flows. While everyone is familiar with talking about power as if it were a river with terms like “flow”, and “current”, most people don’t actually realize what this means in terms of getting power to everyone or how the power gets from the generation plants to homes and businesses. Power is not static like a block of material from which you can break off a little when you need it. It flows like a river. The power lines between you and the nearest plants are enormous channels of power and each street light, home, and business is like a small stream that diverts a little of the nearby flow. That power then comes in through your breaker box and is split further to your outlets where it is used up by your appliances which turn it into work and heat. Normally each little stream has an unnoticeable effect on the overall river of power that supplies your neighborhood and town, but what happens when every home or office suddenly starts needing more than their usual share?

Too many little streams coming off of the ‘river’ results in not enough power coursing down the main power line which means that some people won’t be able to get all the power they need. When the lines become overwhelmed with demand, this results in rolling brownouts and possibly even short blackouts, a common symptom of peak hours. During these times when demand is highest, power companies must fire up “peaker plants” which are costly power plants that only run to meet high demand. To cover these and other associated costs, utilities bill according to this peak load.

On the West Coast and in other places, power companies sometimes ask everyone to pay demand charges but here in the mid-Atlantic region, only businesses are billed for demand.

Understanding Peak Hours

The concept of peak hours is something that took some time to figure out about modern power infrastructure. It is based on years of pattern analysis and a study of human behavior in the macro-scale, but the results are clear and undeniable. Peak hours are the predictable hours in which people use the most power. This is mostly related to the season and influenced by the use of HVAC systems in private residential homes but business uses do factor in.

Winter Peak Hours

In the winter, peak hours are in the morning and late evening when people are awake and the weather is the coldest. From early to mid-morning, people are waking up and warming up their homes with heaters or coming into the office to get the entire building warmed up for arriving employees. The second set of winter peak hours spans from just after the sun goes down to mid-evening. These are times when people head home and heat their houses back up for dinner before letting them cool again for a nice deep winter sleep. Businesses that are open late also need to warm back up to keep evening employees comfortable.

Summer Peak Hours

In the summer and during unusually warm weather in the fall or spring, there is only one peak time but it is quite long and during an inconvenient time for businesses to reduce their use. Summer peak times are from the mid-afternoon to early-evening when the sun has had the most time to warm everything but has not yet set to allow for cooling. This also covers the time when children and their parents get home from school and work and fire up the AC.

For those familiar with their power bills, you may already know that heaters and air conditioners can account for 50% or more of building power demands. It is this trend of heating and cooling at certain times of day that can put a very significant strain on what the power company can provide.

How Demand Charges Work

Having a much better understanding of how power flows and why peak hours can cause rolling brownouts, the power company’s desire to encourage less use during this time is understandable.

In the mid-Atlantic area, demand charges are based on the highest 15-minute average usage recorded within a given month. If the facility tends to use a lot of power over short periods, the demand charges will comprise a larger part of the bill. If the facility uses power at a more consistent rate throughout the month, the demand charges will generally be a smaller part of the bill. This is especially important for buildings with more than just lights and computers. Manufacturing equipment, machine shop gear, and other larger tools and equipment can also draw an incredible amount of power. In their way, power companies are asking businesses to cool it on any high-demand power and, if they can, to take some of the load of the unchangeable residential need for power. This means that the less power you manage to use during your current peak hours, the fewer demand charges you will see.

Getting Clever with Solar

Of course, we mentioned earlier that you could reduce your demand charges without even reducing your power use and that wasn’t a red-herring. The key is to provide some of your own power to your building so as to reduce your peak demand. Hospitals and manufacturing facilities have done this with their backup-generator for the savings, but this isn’t exactly green energy. The environmentally friendly solution is solar panels and batteries. While solar alone can lower your bill significantly, if a large portion of the bill is demand charge you’ll need to be able to store that energy to use at the most opportune time.

Here at Mountain View Solar, we can analyze your power usage and implement a solution to automatically reduce your load on the grid using stored solar energy. To learn more about how we accomplish this, refer to our article “How Business Owners Can Fight Demand Charges“.

For more information about how to dodge demand charges with clever use of solar and battery storage, contact us now for a FREE consultation. mtvSolar is your local licensed and qualified solar and energy storage provider for the West Virginia, Northern Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania service area.

Although prices for solar installations have fallen significantly over the past few years, many homeowners considering a home solar energy solution are concerned with the upfront cost. That’s understandable. The initial outlay for a rooftop or stand-alone solar installation can seem daunting for anyone who doesn’t have a pile of cash lying around (which, let’s face it, is most of us). Unlike buying a new car, however, solar pays you back.

The good news is that even big businesses are coming to the realization that investing in energy efficient solutions makes financial sense. As embracing solar energy becomes more popular and visible, homeowners – just like big businesses – are increasingly finding they can finance their solar installations and pay for them out of the cost savings.

In this article, we offer an overview of borrowing to pay for the upfront cost of a solar energy conversion: the basic economics of calculating and maximizing your return on investment, finding a lender, and convincing the doubters that solar isn’t just easy on the environment, it’s also easy on your wallet.

The Basic Economics of Solar Financing

The first decision homeowners must make when they want to install solar is whether they will own or lease the installation. For residential solar installations, Mountain View Solar believes strongly that buying is far more preferable than leasing, for the reasons explained in this Consumer Reports article. Accordingly, this article focuses on how to finance the purchase of a solar installation for your home.

If you have ever taken out a mortgage to buy a home, used a home equity line of credit (“HELOC”) to pay for renovations, or paid for just about anything with a credit card, you already have a basic idea of how financing the purchase of a solar installation can work. In the simplest sense, you go to a lender and apply for a loan that is either secured by your property or the solar equipment itself (like a mortgage loan or HELOC) or unsecured (like a credit card).

Whichever option you choose, the basic economic calculation is the same. You start with the upfront cost of the solar equipment and installation, which is the maximum amount you need to borrow. The loan will have a repayment term and an interest rate. With a high-quality solar installation, you will see savings over time from the avoided cost of electricity. You’ll also receive a 30% Federal tax credit for your installation that can be used to pay down a large chunk of the outstanding principle in the first year. So long as those savings exceed your loan principal plus total interest cost, taking out the loan to pay for the upfront cost of the solar installation will make good economic sense. Expressed as a percentage, this positive net financial benefit from spending and borrowing to pay for a solar installation is your “return on investment.”

Let’s put it in practical terms. Say the upfront cost of the right solar installation for your property is $12,000 after tax credits (you should use your 30% tax credit to pay down the principle as soon as you get it). And, say your electricity bill currently runs you $1,200 per year ($100/month). If your loan were interest-free and electricity costs stayed steady, your solar system would pay for itself after 10 years (10 years X $1,200 = $12,000). Of course, your loan won’t be interest-free, so when you take the added cost of interest into account it could take a couple more years to reach “break even” assuming electricity rates stayed steady.

Keep in mind, however, that electricity rates don’t typically stay steady. Historically they have risen over time, and they’re expected to keep rising. As a result, rising electricity rates will significantly offset your loan interest cost, and maybe even cancel it out altogether in the long run.

When all is said and done, in our experience installing solar systems in the mid-Atlantic region (where utility power currently averages around $0.11/kWh), at today’s interest rates and solar prices, a typical rooftop solar installation takes about 10 to 12 years to pay for itself in energy savings depending on the state you live in. Because top quality solar panels are expected to have a useful life of 40+ years, that means that solar energy could provide you with upwards of 28+ years of “free” energy (not to mention increase the value of your home should you ever plan to sell it). In a previous article, we take a closer look at other financial details when going solar.

Finding a Solar Lender

As the good financial sense of home solar energy generation becomes apparent, more and more lenders are entering the market for “solar loans,” which benefits homeowners by driving down borrowing costs. Experienced solar installers like Mountain View Solar can recommend financing options for their installations. In addition, chances are good your local bank will consider giving you a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or “second mortgage” to pay for a solar installation. Finally, the market is growing for lenders who specialize in solar lending. This solar lender finding tool is one of many you can find with a simple Google search that can help you identify a solar lender in your area.

Overcoming Doubts and Doubters

Solar energy has been around for a long time, but it still seems “new” to many consumers. At Mountain View Solar, we’ve found that there can even be doubts and disagreements within households over whether taking the perceived financial risk of a solar loan makes sense. Addressing those concerns is one reason why we’re always happy to conduct a free, no-pressure evaluation of the suitability of your home for a solar installation, and to walk you through the economics of your particular needs based upon current estimates of energy, equipment, and interest costs.

We are also big believers in the benefits of starting conversations about solar energy and solar lending with neighbors and your local community. We’ve never stopped being amazed at how the common sense financial benefits of solar have a way of bringing people together. The simple fact is, solar energy is good business, not just for the Apples and Walmarts of the world, but also for individual homeowners and neighborhoods. To ensure that your investment has maximum payback, make sure you choose a contractor with proper certifications and licenses. Contact mtvSolar now for a free consultation to discover more about how you can finance and install a high-quality solar system.

Commercial properties and residential properties are billed substantially differently. Here in the Mid-Atlantic states of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, there is one glaring difference that may not be immediately obvious on a commercial electric bill: businesses are charged for how fast they use energy in addition to how much they consume. Homes in this region pay the same rate for kilowatt-hours of electricity no matter what time of day it is or how much is available. Commercial properties and businesses, on the other hand, have to contend with a troublesome factor known as demand charges. Some power companies, especially around Eastern Maryland, even have partial-peak hours with middle-rate demand charges for certain times of day.

It is entirely possible that over half your commercial power bill consists of demand charges alone. This means that you’re not just paying for your electricity consumption, you’re also paying for a guarantee that the maximum power you may ever use will be available during all hours of the day.

Demand Charges

Peak hours and demand charges are two concepts that are permanently linked because one is a response to the other. This is primarily related to the weather, when HVACs get cranked up to combat outdoor temperatures, and to a certain extent when everyone tends to wake up or come home from work. During these times, homes and businesses alike demand far more power than usual which can result in a temporary shortage on the grid, requiring the use of very expensive “peaker plants” to generate the extra power needed to keep the lights on. Every building pulling power reduces the amount available for everyone else which starts to matter when nearly every person in the city has come home and fired up the HVAC to get the home nice and warm or cool depending on the season. Therefore, utilities bill companies based on how quickly they use that power.

In the mid-Atlantic area, demand charges are based on the highest 15-minute average usage recorded within a given month. If the facility tends to use a lot of power over short periods, the demand charges will comprise a larger part of the bill. If the facility uses power at a more consistent rate throughout the month, the demand charges will generally be a smaller part of the bill.

Peak Load Shaving

So what can a budget-minded business do in the face of rising demand charges on their power bill? While most smaller businesses simply accept the hit, many large facilities like factories and hospitals with backup generators have a clever solution: Simply don’t use as much power during peak hours and save hundreds if not thousands on demand charges every month.

Certain larger businesses and venues need backup generators for their own reasons. Manufacturing plants, for instance, need backup generators because some processes can be ruined by a blackout in the middle of a shift. Hospitals have backup generators so that their computers, life support machines, and surgery theaters stay functional even in a city-wide power outage. However, they can also use these already-owned power assets to save money on demand charges by reducing their burden on the utility grid. The power supplied by the backup generators can offset at least some of the power they use during peak hours and this is known as peak load shaving. The downside, of course, is that fossil fuel generators are dirty, noisy and cost money to run.

Reducing Your Peak Load with Solar

The good news is that you don’t actually need a backup generator to take advantage of the peak load shaving trick. In fact, this solution is much more preferable to using a backup generator because it is affordable, popular, tax-deductible, and completely green. Solar panels are a great way to generate your own power every day, directly offsetting your building’s electricity consumption.

The challenge is, of course, that solar generates power when the sun is out, sends that power directly down the lines, and that’s that. If you have a net-metering program, maybe the power company gives you demand charge discounts for putting solar power on the grid during peak hours and maybe they don’t. The real way to strategically use your solar panels for peak load shaving is by combining them with a bank of batteries. This way, you can save up some or all of that solar energy for when it will be most profitable to you, during times where you would normally be seeing hefty demand charges.

Intelligently Reducing Load from the Grid

The key to peak load shaving is to know exactly how and when to use your auxiliary power solution. Just like hospitals and factories know when to fire up the backup generators, you will need to have a grid-tied solar and battery solution that discharges during peak usage to offset the demand. Here’s how it works:

During the day, your solar panels soak up sunlight and send power down the cables. You can either route the energy directly into your batteries or send it through your building first as active power and then into the batteries. Then, during those times that the facility would be using its maximum amount of power, the batteries will discharge at a rate proportional to the demand from the utility. With enough storage you can self-power your business as much as possible to avoid logging that high peak load on your meter for which you are billed. This not only reduces your power bill and more directly increases your use of renewable energy, it also eases the burden of your power use from the local power lines. This makes more power available to homes and businesses while reducing the utility’s need to fire up expensive gas-fired peak generation plants.

Peak Load Shaving with Mountain View Solar

Are you tired of paying half your power bill in demand charges? If you’re ready to reduce your use of the increasingly expensive power grid with a solar and storage solution of your own, the savings on demand charges alone can accelerate the ROI of your solar array even more quickly than standard net-metering deals with solar by itself.

Here at Mountain View Solar, we specialize in putting together the right strategic solar plan for each business, including a complete solar+battery solution for peak load shaving at your facility. The process is pretty straightforward: our data logger records your building consumption patterns for a year, we create an energy profile, and then we install batteries to intelligently offset peak demand, guaranteed for 10 years. For more information about how to dodge demand charges with clever use of solar and battery storage, contact us today for a FREE consultation.

There are two primary electrical components of a grid-tied solar photo-voltaic (PV) system: the solar array consisting of solar modules, and the solar inverter. In order to help ensure a long-lasting, high-performing PV system, it’s important to confirm that all of these components are backed by a rock-solid warranty.

However, separating the legal jargon from the key points in a solar system warranty can be difficult. In this post, we aim to make the process easier by focusing on some of the most important time limitations, covered defects, performance guarantees, remedies, conditions and exclusions found in solar system warranties. Given that a substandard installation can void a solar system’s warranty, we’ll also look at the importance of hiring a qualified local installer.

Duration

Here, we focus on the solar modules installed in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania by Mountain View Solar:

SolarWorld modules come with a 25 year performance warranty and 20 year product warranty. Certain models may come with longer warranties.

SilFab modules come with a 25 year performance warranty and 12 year product warranty.

Panasonic and LG modules come with 25 year warranties for both product and performance.

SolarEdge inverters come with a 12 year standard warranty that can optionally be extended to 25 years.

SolarEdge optimizers come with a 25 year warranty.

Product guarantees

Many of the potential defects and performance concerns surrounding your PV system will relate to the solar panel array itself, which is directly exposed to the elements. Specifically, a comprehensive solar array warranty should cover cloudy or discolored glass; aluminum frames that fail to withstand freezing temperatures without water penetration; yellowing of the backing material and any malfunctions in the cable and connector plugs under normal use.

The warranties on the inverter and optimizers cover expected operation of a properly installed unit.The limited warranty does not cover cosmetic or superficial defects, dents, marks or scratches, which do not influence the proper functioning of the product.

Performance guarantees

Like product guarantees, performance guarantees apply to each solar module within an array. A quality solar product will come with a warranty that guarantees specific levels of effective output at various stages in the course of the array’s expected life. Although an extremely gradual decline in effective output is unavoidable, a premium product should guarantee that the decline will not exceed roughly 20% of the original output over the duration of the warranty (typically 25 years). A qualified contractor can supply all the warranty information upon request.

Remedies

Should a defect arise, your installer will replace the affected part under warranty. The manufacturer will cover the replacement part but may not cover labor to replace the part after the first year. In certain cases with older systems, you may be paid the fair market value of the component.

Conditions

Many of the key points to focus on in the Conditions section of your solar system warranty involve time limitations. For example, generally a specific solar panel will only remain under warranty for the warranty’s original duration, even if the panel is replaced with a new one in response to a warranty claim. Moreover, you may have a limited window of time, such as six weeks, after a defect’s discovery to submit a warranty claim to the manufacturer therefore it’s critical to contact your installer as quickly as possible after discovery.

Exclusions

Although a complete list of common warranty exclusions would be too long to spell out here, let’s look at a few of the most important:

Improper installation

Your solar equipment manufacturer will require that your installer follow strict instructions and guidelines when assembling and installing your solar system. In addition, the installer must posses the required licenses and certifications to perform the complete installation. They must also follow all local codes governing the process. This includes the end-to-end handling of all materials involved. If the installer improperly stores, transports or protects the product prior to or during delivery and installation, they could void the warranty, leaving you exposed to the loss. Thus it is critically important that you hire an experienced, licensed, certified, premium local installer to handle the entire installation process of your quality solar components.

Improper usage or maintenance

Always refer to the manufacturer information sheets to ensure that you are following all of the proper procedures when operating and maintaining your solar system. Although PV systems are often praised for having no moving parts, they will suffer damage and excessive performance degradation if not properly maintained, such as using a chemical to clean the modules that breaks down the water-tight seals. Therefore, never try to repair or make unauthorized changes to your PV system yourself, as you could easily void the warranty. There are also a few best practices to keep in mind with respect to the PV system’s primary components:

Solar modules

Warranties will generally not cover normal wear and tear, such as scratches and stains that occur after installation and that do not lead to excessive performance degradation. Moreover, if you allow salt, smoke, dust, debris or corrosive chemicals to accumulate on your panels, you could run the risk of voiding your warranty.

Solar inverters & optimizers

The inverter requires adequate ventilation to avoid overheating. Failure to keep the installed inverter well-ventilated could potentially void the warranty. Unauthorized modification will also void the warranty.

The optimizers should be mounted and connected according to manufacturer specifications.

Purchasing from an unauthorized seller

Warranties from manufacturers of premium solar system components, such as SolarEdge, often require that you purchase their products from authorized contractors, such as Mountain View Solar.

Solar system warranties: Key points to remember

Like all warranties, solar system warranties are heavy with boilerplate legal jargon that often make it difficult to isolate the key points that directly relate to your investment. Here we’ve tried to make that process easier for you.

As outlined above, premium solar modules typically come with a standard, limited, 25-year performance warranty. Quality solar inverters do come with shorter standard warranties but they can be extended for an additional fee. A warranty for a premium solar module should cover any significant physical defects that lead to unexpectedly low performance. Performance guarantees are also an essential component of solar array warranties. A quality solar product will generally come with a warranty guaranteeing a high level of effective output over the expected life of your panels.

As a remedy for covered defects or excessive performance losses that you discover, you should expect the manufacturer to either repair, replace or pay for the defective or under-performing part or system, through your installation contractor. However, PV system parts will only remain covered for the original duration of the corresponding warranty, even if they are replaced with new parts during the process of fulfilling a warranty claim.

Furthermore, there are important exclusions to consider, such as improper installation, improper maintenance, installing it yourself or purchasing from an unqualified seller, that could potentially void your valuable warranty.

In the case of battery backup systems, there are warranties for the batteries as well, with the standard being 10 years for the LG Chem and DEKA Unigy II. Your mtvSolar consultant can discuss these in detail, as they are based on actual usage of the battery over time.

By understanding these key points, and working with a trusted local installer, you can greatly increase your confidence that your solar investment will remain covered by the various manufacturer warranties.

The more you look into going solar, the more you should realize one principle of utmost importance: all solar panels and solar experts are not created equal. In addition to the price and the energy output of a system, new buyers have to consider the overall quality, relevant warranties, the certification of the installers, and added safety capabilities that will help them fully realize the benefits of adding solar to their home. Ultimately, premium solar equipment is not only safer but is expected to last considerably longer than the least expensive models, which tend to come with shorter warranties and the manufacturer may not even be around to honor that warranty period. Consider these factors when determining what type of solar equipment is right for you.

Warranties are crucial.

The last thing you may want to be thinking about is something going wrong with your new solar installation, yet your long-term satisfaction can be closely tied to the warranty. It may be rare, but even perfectly installed solar panels can have issues for a variety of reasons, making it never a good idea to opt for panels that don’t have you covered over the long haul. The best solar modules come from premium panel manufacturers that have been around for decades, such as SolarWorld and Silfab, which both offer above-average warranties that provide the necessary coverage for your solar system.

While more than half of solar panel manufacturers offer a standard 10-year warranty, Silfab provides an excellent 12-year manufacturer warranty that will cover you in case of environmental or manufacturing defects along with a 25 year performance guarantee. Silfab also has a sterling reputation for its long-lasting panels that function well deep into their life cycle. Based in Hillsboro, Oregon, SolarWorld offers20-year, 25-year and even 30-year warranties for their panels produced right in the United States. Going further, SolarWorld’s warranties also guarantee a high level of efficiency after the first decade, providing confidence for anyone worried that their panels will become obsolete too quickly.

In addition to having a qualified solar company provide installation and service, reading the details of your warranty ahead of time can be an easy way to properly gauge the long-term value of your panels. Any company worth hiring should be able to provide the full warranties of their panels from the onset, although most warranties can also be found online. While it might be possible to save a small amount of money upfront with cheaper equipment, the warranties of premium solar manufacturers will give you a significant advantage over the expected 40 year or more lifespan of your PV system, and may also enhance the resale value of your home.

Safety and proactive monitoring.

The amount of electricity produced by a high-functioning solar system can be amazing, but the raw power can also bring safety issues if not properly installed and managed. The good news is that there are some excellent companies that provide the type of monitoring that will ensure your PV system is both safe and functioning at the highest level possible. One of the very best in the space is SolarEdge, a world-renowned inverter and power optimizer platform that drastically improves the safety and efficiency of any solar array.

One of SolarEdge’s priorities is to provide safety for any personnel that might end up working on your roof or equipment. Thanks to SolarEdge’s unique power optimizers and inverters, DC currents are automatically shutdown when in safety mode to allow installers and maintenance workers to operate safely. This also dramatically improves the safety of firefighters if they ever have to respond to an emergency, which is one of the specific reasons SolarEdge technology is utilized for public buildings as well as for residential structures. Because the safety of any personnel that might work on your roof is paramount, homeowners who install SolarEdge optimized systems can rest comfortably thanks to the strong safety reputation of their technologies.

SolarEdge also has other distinct advantages as well. SolarEdge’s power optimizers can actually monitor individual panels and make sure that every panel is performing up to its capabilities, allowing for easy troubleshooting and verification of warrantied power output. For the relatively small cost of power optimizers, homeowners can be confident that their PV system is maximizing energy output and that they’re getting the biggest bang for the buck, while also being safe. Those interested in connecting to a LG Chem wall mounted lithium battery pack can also do so directly through a SolarEdge “StorEdge” inverter, which isn’t yet possible with other manufacturers.

Is your installer fully credentialed?

Cutting corners happens in a lot of different industries, but it can have dire consequences when it comes to solar power thanks to the complexities that go hand in hand with an electrical installation. The race to the bottom in the solar industry has led to some short lived companies coming and going over the years. For starters, having a company that only uses fully licensed electricians with solar-specific expertise is non-negotiable when it comes to selecting a solar installer. Any solar company you’re considering should be able to provide licensing documentation upon request to prove that any electrician who works on your system is appropriately qualified to do so.

In addition to fully licensed electricians, companies like Mountain View Solar also employ multiple personnel with a certification by the NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners). This is particularly important in states where NABCEP certification isn’t mandatory, which remains the majority around the United States because it was created as a volunteer program. NABCEP employees have to prove their solar knowledge in a vigorous testing process designed to ensure only crew members with the proper skill set and knowledge base are allowed to operate.

The certification process covers not just installers but inspectors and sales professionals as well. If your solar company employs NABCEP-certified personnel, you can be sure that they’re taking the entire process seriously and not trying to cut corners with lower paid non-certified workers. Additionally, some state rebate programs are actually tied to NABCEP certification, such as Maryland’s MEA grant, which is why going with a company that doesn’t have NABCEP employees can cost you in both the short and long-term. Last, some equipment warranties are only valid if installed by a properly credentialed company.

Final tips.

Investing in a PV system can be an exciting way to embrace the green energy revolution while saving money on energy bills, but the difference in quality makes it critical that you do your due diligence. With the best solar companies of today offering very competitive pricing, a top-tier system is also likely less expensive than you think. Although it’s sometimes tempting to go with the cheapest option available, premium solar equipment that provides additional safety, cost-saving efficiency and peace of mind can make any initial savings pale by comparison. In the long run, a higher quality system will have a better return on investment due to higher energy output.

For more info about having your own premium solar equipment installed, contact the experts at Mountain View Solar to learn about the system that’s right for you.

The solar industry continues to soar, despite occasional efforts to quell that growth. Right-to-access laws in specific states help deal with the situation, though HOA rules can still get in the way of allowing households to install solar panels, at least at first.

Some lawsuits have gone forward against local HOA’s in specific states as a result, and with right-to-access laws the homeowner generally wins. Without right-to-access laws, home owner’s associations still have the right to deny you the ability to start using solar power on your home and the best approach will be education.

Fortunately, 25 states have right-to-access laws in place. In this blog, we want to focus on four key states with specific impact: West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Take a look at the laws detailed below if you’re covered by an HOA and are considering solar.

Right-to-Access Laws in West Virginia

West Virginia may be trailing behind other states in solar adoption, but they do have effective right-to-access laws for protection from HOA rules against solar.

It’s recently noted that West Virginia has a lot more room to grow in solar capacity. They still have room for 2 GW of urban utility scale photovoltaics. The state also has extra room for 35 GW of rural utility scale photovoltaics.

Despite West Virginia repealing their renewable energy standard, they did pass legislation six years ago to make it easier to go solar despite some HOA rules. Prior to 2012, many people had roadblocks to solar technology because of their local home owner’s association rules.

This new law voids all restrictions, even though you still need to work with your HOA on installation requirements, mostly for aesthetics.

Many state financial incentives for investing in solar in West Virginia ended, however West Virginia does have 1-to-1 net metering and you can take the Federal tax credit. Even though WV has some of the lowest electricity rates in the country, you can potentially reduce your utility bill to nothing using solar technology in the state and save many thousands over the life of the system.

Right-to-Access Laws in Virginia

Virginia’s commitment to solar is growing fast. Four years ago, they only had enough solar energy in the state to power 1,400 homes. New utility scale solar projects are already under construction, including some with a capacity of 400 MW. These are going to be operational by the turn of the decade to supply power to an incredible 100,000 homes.

Not only is Virginia on board with solar, but they also have right-to-access laws to help with the process. Some of them have become very helpful in finally blocking the restrictions HOA’s placed on homeowners.

A new solar mandate law says that 15% of the state’s energy must be renewable by 2025. By 2021, this should top out at 12%. Along with a new law providing a Virginia Solar Energy Development Authority, the state has powerful backing for those wanting to install solar panels now on their homes.

Keep in mind local HOAs can still impose restrictions on the size, place, and placement of solar devices on or around your house. Yet, the limitations have to stay within reason. You won’t find too many restrictions in Virginia for bringing the power of solar to your home.

Right-to-Access Laws in Maryland

Maryland is already known for being one of the greenest states in America. Thanks to their own mandate to have 25% renewable energy by 2025 (like Virginia), their right-to-access law provides similar protections.

The bill, HB 117, specifically limits the power of local municipalities and homeowners associations from regulating or prohibiting renewable energy systems like water, wind, and solar energy.

Solar easements are one of those major financial gifts. These are unique because it gives you a “right to sunlight” for energy production.

Some HOA’s can still have minor limitations on placement of solar panels, though you’re not going to find too many other restrictions.

Financial incentives go far beyond many other states. They have a local state rebate program, giving you back up to $1,000 if you invest in solar technology. This clean energy grant further enhances the ROI. Another part of this includes eliminating property taxes on your solar infrastructure.

In addition to full 1-to-1 net metering, you can sell your excess solar production to utility companies for profit, albeit at the wholesale rate.

Right-to-Access Laws in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is a bit behind in that they don’t have a right-to-access law at the moment. This might change in the future as more states bring these laws to fruition to help homeowners save on their energy bills.

In the meantime, if you want to set up solar panels in Pennsylvania, you may encounter significant HOA roadblocks. Over the last five years, many municipalities worked hard to establish new rules to avoid entanglements in setting up solar panels.mtvSolar will be happy to work with your local HOA to further explain solar and its aesthetic options to remove those potential roadblocks.

Six municipalities have since established new policies to guide people forward on solar use. Despite the lack of right-to-access laws, the use of solar technology here is not a bleak picture by any means. Guidelines on installations are a major factor in Pennsylvania since some neighborhood HOAs are concerned about the aesthetics. Many residents in the state recognize the value of solar, though, as opposed to any other investment and so these rules are slowly evolving.

Since so many people in PA are new to the process, it’s simply going to take time to implement new rules so installations can be done in an acceptable manner without too much resistance from HOAs.

On the bright side, net metering is available, allowing solar users to directly lower their utility bills, and the Federal tax credit is also available.

Contact us to learn about how we can help you go solar if you live in the WV, MD, PA and VA area. We’re one of the longest lasting and most experienced solar installers in this region of America. We’ll be proud to help you go solar, regardless of your right-to-access laws.