The Solar Energy Group LLC Faq
What is Net Metering?
Navigating Solar Warranties
Solar Energy Group Mission
Is Solar a Good Investment for My Family?
How to Determine a Solar Fit for My House?
Can Solar Be Too Expensive?
Demystifying Home Batteries
Two Options for Purchasing Your Energy
Find Out How Much You Can Really Save
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The Ultimate Solar FAQ
Net metering is the policy that really enables your solar to work for you. In most US states, there is a policy that says for every kilowatt hour that you put into the grid, you will receive a credit for that kilowatt hour. So if your solar system produces 10 kilowatt hours of energy, and it puts those 10 kilowatt hours into the grid, that’s 10 kilowatt hours you get back. That’s what net metering is.
This is really important because your solar system produces energy during the daytime, but you use energy during the nighttime as well. How it works is that during the daytime, you put a lot of energy into the grid, and it goes “on account” to be used later when you are not producing electricity. So you’re banking all those credits. Then at night (or on a cloudy day), you pull that energy off the grid, and you use all the credits you accumulated.
That’s net metering. It’s an amazing policy. One that we all as consumers and advocates for clean energy have to continue to fight for. It has enabled solar to develop so much and, in effect, gives you the ability to use the grid as your own battery, reducing the cost of electricity for you and your family.
The Solar Investment Tax Credit (also known as the ITC) is available for qualifying homeowners who install solar. When you go solar, you can apply for the ITC from the federal government when you file your taxes which, for some homeowners, can result in a reduced, or even zero, tax liability. The ITC was recently increased from 26% to 30% giving homeowners even more reason to go solar. That’s why customers who are ready to go solar should do so while the tax credit is maximized.
The ITC is a huge part of the value proposition of solar. For example, if you go solar and finance (or purchase with cash) your system for $30,000, you could receive an income tax credit equal to 30% of that $30,000 solar system, depending on the size of your tax liability. And if you finance your system, you can be eligible for this benefit without paying ANY money down for the system. That is why you want to go solar today and take advantage of the generous federal subsidies we as consumers have available in order to support clean energy and save money.
One of the most common questions our clients ask is how a solar warranty works. There are three types of solar warranties:
Net metering is the policy that really enables your solar to work for you. In most US states, there is a policy that says for every kilowatt hour that you put into the grid, you will receive a credit for that kilowatt hour. So if your solar system produces 10 kilowatt hours of energy, and it puts those 10 kilowatt hours into the grid, that’s 10 kilowatt hours you get back. That’s what net metering is.
The first one is on the panels. When you buy a solar system for power, those panels are typically warrantied for 25 years. What that means is they’re guaranteed to work for 25 years and continue to produce power. Now, depending on the panel you buy, that production guarantee could be anywhere from 85% of the power they were producing on day one, all the way up to 92% if you opt for a higher-efficiency, premium panel.
The second type of warranty is on your inverter, which is the component of your system that transforms the energy you get directly from the sun into usable AC current that can actually power your home: turn on your lights, power your A/C, help you watch TV and all that good stuff. Your inverter is warrantied anywhere from 12 to 25 years. And a lot of times we will also include an extended option for 30 years, which really makes it a complete no-brainer.
Now the third part of the warranty covers what’s called the workmanship. Our workmanship warranty is for 10 years. That means all the work that we do on your house when we’re installing your solar system, when we’re on your roof while you’re working, when we’re working inside your electrical panel. All of that work is guaranteed for 10 years to make sure that there’s absolutely no issues.
25 years on the panels, 12 to 30 years on the inverter, 10 years on the workmanship warranty. Truly, we’ve got you covered when it comes to protecting your solar investment and making sure that it provides value to you for the long haul.
It is well-documented that solar increases the value of your home. The reason for this is that it’s a home investment that actually produces income. A solar system sits on your roof and generates electricity, and there is a value for each kilowatt of electricity your system produces.
In fact, each KW you produce is a KW that you don’t have to purchase from your electric company. Plus the future value of all of those savings is valuable to the next buyer of your home.
Another amazing reason to go solar today – get the economic benefits today, and get more for the sale of your home tomorrow.
Not every home is eligible for solar, so cross your fingers. Let’s hope you’re one of the lucky ones, and you can save money. There are three main factors:
Number one is called “sun exposure” – does your roof (or the location of your solar panels) get enough access to the sun? One of the things we’ll do is analyze your sun exposure from satellite images and other technology to make sure that you’ve got what’s called “proper solar access”. There’s a percentage we’re looking for which, as long as you’ve got that, you’re good to go.
Number two is orientation. What direction would your panels be facing? Ideally we would want the panels facing South or West, since that is where the most sunshine hits. So you’re looking for the right sun exposure, you’re looking for the right orientation.
And then there’s just number three. Are there any structural issues with your house or roof that would make it difficult to mount solar panels? And if it turns out that it doesn’t work for solar, no harm done, you got educated and you know it is what it is. But that’s the reason why I encourage you to reach out and get a no-cost proposal from us so we can actually do the hard work of analyzing your property and show you exactly how much money you can save by going solar.
So what happens when you sign an agreement to go solar with power? Actually, the agreement is the hardest part! Once you sign your agreement, we do the rest. We will assign you a dedicated project manager that will keep you posted through every step of your project.
First, we will schedule your site survey. Next, we create the design that gets submitted to the City to receive a construction permit. Once the permit is received, we schedule your installation, which typically takes 1-3 days depending on the size of your system. After we finish installing the solar system on your house, we schedule the city inspector and/or your utility company to approve the installation and give you what is called “permission to operate”, or PTO. Once you have PTO, we power on your system and you can enjoy clean power for your home from sunshine. The whole process typically takes 30-60 days. Although much of that time is simply waiting for permits, inspectors and the like.
So let’s talk about your options. Really, when it comes to your future with energy, you only have two options.
Number one is you go solar, you choose to actually take control of your power, take your power back, spend less for solar energy and the energy you need for your home than it currently costs you to get that from your utility, increase the value of your home, be energy independent, and do the right thing for our environment. For goodness sakes, the sunshine doesn’t cause pollution, right? So let’s stop polluting our air, our land, our water, and let’s start powering our lives in a way that as Americans we can really be proud of. We’re doing the right thing. We’re taking care of future generations. And when history looks back on the actions we took, they’re going to know we did the right thing. So that’s option number one.
With Solar Energy Group, we make that incredibly simple for you. Zero down financing, handling the entire project from start to finish. There’s really nothing you need to worry about, we’re going to take care of it for you.
Option number two is you don’t do anything. You just stay with your utility. And you already know what that is. Yeah, your lights are probably going to turn on unless there’s a big power outage or something. But you’re going to spend a lot more for that energy. And you’re going to keep paying utility every single month, month after month after month till the day you die.
Just think about it. Are you ever not going to need energy? Unless you’re planning on moving to a hut in the woods, you’re going to be spending money with your utility company. So why not go solar, do it for less and produce your own energy? And by the way, once that loan payment is paid off, if you do use a zero down option, there’s no more payment, you just have free energy. Imagine if you weren’t spending anything on a monthly basis for energy.
That’s where you can get to with solar versus being stuck in a life long, expensive contract forever with a company that you probably don’t even really like, be honest. Do you like your utility company? Do you feel like they’re taking care of you? Do they have your back? Well, I can tell you that our sincere aim is to serve you.
We want to be a better energy provider. We want to save you money. We want to help you feel proud of how you power your home. And we want to get you all the best equipment, the best technology to set you up for the future. So those are your two options. And I leave it to you to choose. But I truly and sincerely hope that you go solar with Solar Energy Group. Let us help you save money and accelerate a sustainable energy future for mankind.