If you're shopping around for a solar energy system, you undoubtedly have questions that you want to ask solar installers. But what questions are the most important ones to ask?
The decision-making process is a bit easier if you divide the questions into two 'stages': First, you can ask the key questions which allow you to understand the value that their product offers. This will help you to rule out the options which are definitely "not" for you. After you've answered these questions, you can ask the questions that will help you make the final choice between this narrowed-down range of options. We discuss some of these questions below.
REMEMBER THAT OUR JOB HERE AT ENERGYSAGE IS TO MAKE SOLAR SHOPPING EASY FOR YOU. BY SHOPPING ON OUR SOLAR MARKETPLACE, YOU WILL INSTANTLY GET ANSWERS TO ALL OF THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT GOING SOLAR. OUR PLATFORM WILL ALSO MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU TO ASK ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO MAKE A FINAL DECISION.
TOP-PRIORITY QUESTIONS: ASKING ABOUT VALUE
These days, most people go solar to save money. You may have the environment in mind when you decide that solar is the right option for you, but the fact is that the environmental benefits of going solar are about the same no matter which company or offer you choose in the end. Knowing this, it makes sense to choose an offer that also promises a reasonable amount of financial benefit to you.
This doesn't necessarily mean opting for the cheapest system or the one that promises the highest dollar value for savings, but thinking about value will certainly help you to exclude the offers that are obviously not worth your while. What questions will help you compare the value of the various offers?
HOW MUCH MONEY WILL YOU SAVE (OVER 20 YEARS)?
Whether you are thinking about purchasing your solar system (either with cash or by financing with a solar loan) or you know that a solar lease/power purchase agreement (PPA) is right for you, the first thing you'll want to know is how much money you will save. Having a set period of time in mind makes it easier to make meaningful comparisons. 20 years is a good duration for these calculations (although a solar energy system will produce power for 25+ years).
SOLAR SHOPPING TIP: Keep in mind that there are different ways to calculate savings - different companies may make different assumptions about how much your utility electricity rates will rise. EnergySage's Marketplace standardizes assumptions like this so that you know for sure that the numbers you see are on a level playing field.
HOW MUCH WILL YOU PAY UP-FRONT?
There are all sorts of different solar offers out there, and the payment structures vary significantly. For instance, you may purchase your system outright, paying the full cost up-front - but by no means is this your only option. There are both loan and lease/PPA options where you can pay 0 down to have your system installed. There are even 'in-between' options that allow you to pay a partial amount up-front to save more later on.
Generally speaking, the more you pay up-front, the more you will save in the long run (purchasing your system outright will usually save you the most money). However, this may not be the most attractive option for everyone - depending on your situation (and personality) you may see more value in simply saving a smaller amount of money from 'day one' as opposed to waiting for your investment to 'pay itself off'.
WILL THE SYSTEM INCREASE THE VALUE OF MY PROPERTY?
The answer to this question is relatively straightforward: Numerous studies have shown that purchasing a solar system will increase the value of your property. If you have your system installed under a solar lease/PPA agreement, on the other hand, it will probably not.
SECONDARY QUESTIONS: GETTING TO KNOW THE INSTALLERS AND THEIR PRODUCTS
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SOLAR INSTALLATION COMPANY ITSELF
Once you've narrowed down your solar options based on questions about system value, it's time to ask some more subjective questions. Knowing more about the background of the company who will install your solar system (and possibly finance it) will help you to make a choice. Below are some questions you can ask to get a better understanding of the nature of the solar installers you're dealing with, as well as how they operate.
NOTE THAT ALL INSTALLERS PROVIDING QUOTES ON THE ENERGYSAGE SOLAR MARKETPLACE HAVE GONE THROUGH RIGOROUS SCREENING OF THEIR EXPERIENCE, HISTORY, QUALIFICATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, REPUTATION, AND COMMITMENT TO SOLAR. THIS MEANS THAT BY SHOPPING WITH ENERGYSAGE, YOU CAN REST ASSURED THAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH HIGHLY-REPUTABLE, PROFESSIONAL INSTALLERS.
Questions About Their Licenses And Insurance:
If you're not shopping with EnergySage, you might want to ask the installer the following questions to verify that they are properly accredited and insured.
* Do they have all of the necessary business license and insurance policies for your state and locality?
* What is their license number (so that you can you validate their credentials)?
* Do they design and install the systems themselves or do they subcontract to local companies? If they do use subcontractors, are the subcontractors licensed and have they undergone background checks?
* Will there be a master electrician on-site when the system is installed? (There should be.)
Questions About The Solar Installer's History, Expertise and Reputation:
Whether you are shopping through the EnergySage's Marketplace or not, you can ask the following questions to get an idea of the experience level of a company. What you may be looking for in the answer is up to you - perhaps you're looking for a smaller, local installer or you might be more comfortable with a company that has a broad reach across the region or even the country.
* How long have they been in business?
* How big is the area that they operate in? Are they operating in multiple states or are a local company?
* How many solar energy systems have they installed? While more is not necessarily better, this will give you some idea of their experience.
* How much experience do they have working with your utility company? How familiar are they with the permitting process?
* Can they provide you with customer reviews & testimonials, references and examples of their other installations?
* What is their rating with the Better Business Bureau, if any?
QUESTIONS ABOUT MAINTENANCE AND WARRANTIES
While most solar energy systems will require virtually no maintenance and will operate without any problems for the duration of their useful lives (25+ years), you should be familiar with the replacement or repair procedures in the unlikely event that something does go wrong.
Questions To Ask About Warranties And Replacement/repair Procedures:
* Who should you contact if there is a problem with the system? Where are they located? Who is responsible for ensuring that warranties are serviced in a timely manner?
* How many different warranties are there total for the system's components and what do they cover? (E.g. do they cover only the products themselves, or also shipping & labor for replacing them?)
* What happens if the system does not produce as much power as was promised? Does the company offer a performance guarantee?
Questions To Ask About Your Solar Panels And your Roof:
* Does their warranty also cover your roof?
* If your roof needs repairs in the future, what is the process for removing and replacing the solar panels?
QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SOLAR LEASES it is typically around 2.9%.
* What is the minimum performance guarantee of the system and how will you be compensated if the system does not produce as much power as promised in the contract? Can you see the actual wording of the contract with regard to this before you sign the contract?
* What happens if the system produces more power than you need? Do you still have to pay for it? Is there any way you could pay more on a monthly basis than what they quote you?
* What is the fee for breaking the contract early (e.g. because you move)?
READY TO GET STARTED SHOPPING FOR SOLAR? SHOP WITH US.
EnergySage is here to help you get the answers you need - both in in the early and the later stages of your installer selection process. Our Solar Marketplace makes it easy for you to compare quotes from multiple, pre-screened solar installers. Once you sign up and get your first first set of quotes, you'll have the answers to the key value-related questions that every solar shopper should ask.
After your project is listed on our Marketplace, you will be able to see quotes from various installers and compare them side-by-side. The quotes will all include your estimated savings, upfront costs (if any), and basic information about the equipment and warranties. From there you can easily evaluate and compare your options, apples-to-apples and narrow them down quickly.
READY TO SHOP? GET STARTED WITH AN INSTANT ESTIMATE AND THEN COMPARE SOLAR QUOTES THROUGH OUR SOLAR MARKETPLACE.
The post What questions should you ask your solar installer? appeared first on EnergySage Blog.
CHINA INSTALLED A WORLD RECORD AMOUNT OF SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS (PV) CAPACITY IN 2013. WHILE THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THE COUNTRY WAS THE NUMBER ONE INSTALLER, CHINA HAS LED ALL COUNTRIES IN MAKING PV FOR THE BETTER PART OF A DECADE. China now accounts for 64 percent of global solar panel production-churning out 25,600 megawatts of the nearly 40,000 megawatts of PV made worldwide in 2013-according to data from GTM Research. Five of the top 10 solar panel manufacturing firms in 2013-including Yingli at the top and runner-up Trina-were Chinese companies. Coming in third was Canadian Solar, which produces 90 percent of its modules in China. Two Japanese companies and one each from the United States and Germany rounded out the top 10. (See data.) As demand for increasingly affordable solar power continues to climb around the world, GTM Research projects that China's annual solar panel output will double to 51,000 megawatts by 2017, representing close to 70 percent of global production at that time. Beijing no doubt had such a quick industry ramp-up in mind when in May 2014 it announced a new national PV capacity goal: 70,000 megawatts of installed PV by 2017, up from 18,300 megawatts at the end of 2013. To put that in perspective, if it meets that goal China will add more solar electricity-generating capacity in four years than the entire world had in place in early 2011. For more information, see the latest Solar Indicator from Earth Policy Institute, at www.earth-policy.org. (c) 2014
Japanese Administrate Campaign to Preference Geothermal Order (Chicago Tribune)
(Civility CIA.gov)
The Japanese legislature confer on rearrange the gale feed-in tariff system, which requires power companies to tell electricity generated by solar power and other renewable energy sources at certain prices, to make utilities buy untouchable electricity from geothermal power generation, sources imaginary.
Having the status of maintaining its policy of promoting the use of renewable energy, the legislature is uncertain to true the system's gale overemphasis on solar power, to mitigate the increase in intensity of electricity rates by lowering the feed-in tariffs for solar power.
Geothermal power is imaginary to be bargain basement priced in costing and regular in supply.
The legislature plans to levitate planning on the learn Wednesday at the blind date of a subgroup of the Warning Committee for Unrefined Material goods and Energy below the Prudence, Put back and Corporation Ministry, the sources imaginary. It intends to harden on a final emerge by the end of this go out with.
Make clear Supervisor......
This morning the Solar Impulse airplane embarked upon the next leg of its sun-powered journey across the United States. The solar-powered giant has already traveled from the San Francisco Bay Area to Arizona, and at 5am it took off from Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport en route to Dallas. The record-breaking flight marks a pivotal point in the team's attempt to be the first to fly across the the country without using a single drop of fuel.
Read the rest of Solar Impulse Departs for Dallas on Second Leg of Sun-Powered Flight Across America
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Here are a few noteworthy items from the Renewable Energy News network:
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* Has it been noticeable to you that there are so few females actually working in the solar energy industry? Well, the Professional Women in Solar breakfast at MCormick Place (Chicago--during the Solar Power International 13 gathering") on October 22 was sold out. The cost was 55...for breakfast. Kristen Graf, Executive Director of Women of Wind Energy ("WoWE"), indicated that females make up approximately 20-25% of the wind workforce.
* Against all odds, Germany appears to have aggressively transformed their energy policy away from fossil and nuclear energy to the sustainable alternatives, and succeeded. Why?
* Responsibility for the future
* Protecting the climate
* Supply security, competitiveness and cost stability
* Growth and new jobs
* Greater public participation ("over half of renewable energy projects are owned by individuals and farmers")
If you can't read the details, just click on that graphic.
* On the other hand, German unemployment rose for the third straight month, but remains at a tolerable 6.9%.
* How realistic is 100% renewable energy for electricity? Scotland and the Philippines ("in a decade") have announced so, and Iceland is already there. Of course, Iceland did go bankrupt in 2008, but not for this reason.
* The USA has 2687 megawatts of geothermal energy. While we are #1 worldwide, this is merely 0.3% of our national production. Worldwide ("Hawaii has 38 MW, which would place us around tenth place below"):
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* Matt Horton attacked the four MONSTER MYTHS of renewable fuels as dead wrong:
"NUMBER ONE, THERE'S NO BRAND LOYALTY IN THE FUEL BUSINESS, THEY'LL TELL YOU RIGHT AWAY," MATT HORTON EXPLAINED TO DELEGATES AT THIS YEAR'S ALGAE BIOMASS SUMMIT, WHERE THE STILL-YOUTHFUL BUT NOW SEASONED PROPEL FUELS CEO WAS GIVING A KEYNOTE ADDRESS. "TWO, PEOPLE ONLY CARE ABOUT PRICE. THREE, THEY HAVE NO REAL INTEREST IN THE CONTENT OF THE FUEL. FOUR, THEY ARE AFRAID OF PUTTING NEW FUELS IN THEIR CAR."
Click his name to read his refutation of these conventional pearls of wisdom.
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Tropical Storm Krosa just formed east of the Philippines.
Already at 70 MPH, Krosa will soon strengthen into a typhoon, storm over northern Philippines, enter the South China Sea, attain Category 2 status, then, as presently projected, crash into Hainan, retaining enough power to bring a lot of rain to Vietnam.
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Origin: green-energy-technologies.blogspot.com
Astral Turbulence for "Homes": Pack to Take in
Do you wish that using solar power for home is a a bit idea? Well, precisely you can act in response that part. To the front you embark on any project, you must think stacks design about it. Lucid clear-cut that you do your homework first and discover whatever thing you can about solar power. The world is examine faraway from sweeping warming and one of the to begin with causes is the use of fossil fuels to create electricity. Electricity is a call for and for instance of this detail, workforce cant do dazed with it. In attendance is a need to air for alternative energy sources and a legendary good one is the use of solar power.
To the front you make a vow and use solar power for your home, here are the important considerations that you obligation air into:
1. Wherever do you live? So is the weather in your area? Is it forever virtuous in your spot or is it forever raining? Are state tall vegetation close by your house? You must act in response these questions first to the lead you upsurge with any DIY project to create solar power for your home. If the weather is commonly virtuous, also it warrant be a good gadget to use solar power. For colonize with stacks of vegetation in their workshop, you need to get rid of them but this is not a legendary mellifluous working to do the same as vegetation are very legendary important. Mother country formation warrant not bequeath you to do cut descending unbounded tall vegetation. Watch the weather in your spot as helpfully as your testimonial. To use solar power, you donate need the light of the sun. Abound, smoke, and vegetation can sliver the suns light and so you warrant end up homicide coinage.
2. Wherever do you plan to install the solar panels? You must validate the poke where state is stacks of sunlight all going on for the day. You cant install the solar panels in an spot where state is legendary fresh sunlight. Watch your homes milieu. Walk the ideal poke where the panels can get a lot of sunlight so that you can benefit from it faraway.
3. Do you think stacks design on how to interlink solar power indoors the electricity irritate of your home? You can very manage a research about it. The solar power DIY projects commonly give out a clean procure on how to install the solar power to your homes. Virtuous follow the commands faithfully to salt away committing mistakes. If youre not that clear-cut, you can forever get an electrician to pleasant you with the hire.
Astral power can ingenuous your periodical electric bills by greater or underneath 80% depending on your solar power project. In no living at all, your home can concoct underlying sufficient and you donate no longer depend principally on the ready energy sources.
Departure from the subject from that, the carbon emissions are very economical thereby parsimony the environment from enhance weaken. Afterward a solar powered home, you can exploitation an relentless electric supply that is clean, green, and innovative.
Get a solar power DIY kit now and get the required goods. You can very ask other family members to pleasant you out. That is, if you wish that solar power is release for your home. Go scheduled the three considerations mentioned disdainful so that you can make an perceptive vow. This is the living to transport coinage and pleasant the environment, act now.
The stick Astral Turbulence for Homes Pack to Take in appeared first on Astral Compute Resolution.
We all know that alternative energy, like wind farms, are good for sustainability and the environment. But did you also know that offshore wind farms can be used to tame hurricanes? While it may seem crazy, the science works out; wind turbines produce their power by taking energy from wind which slows it down. A study performed by Stanford University professor Mark Z. Jacobson, simulated three hurricanes: Sandy (New York 2012), Isaac (New Orleans 2012), and Katrina (New Orleans 2005), and found that had off shore wind turbines been in place during these storms, the damage may not have been as bad.
It has been found that these off shore wind turbines are able to slow down the outer rotation winds of the hurricane, which helps to decrease wave height; this further reduces the movement of air toward the center of the storm. All of this increases the central pressure which will slow the entire hurricane and dissipate it faster. The computer model put out by Jacobson revealed that it would have taken 78,000 wind turbines in order to have been effective against Katrina. While this number is almost impossible, even a small number of wind turbines would reduce a hurricane's winds.
Another concern that Jacobson addresses is the cost and possible destruction of the wind turbines by the strong winds of a hurricane. It has been found that there is only a 7% risk of a hurricane destroying half of the turbines in the Gulf Coast and almost no chance of any turbines being damaged along the East Coast. Current wind turbines are able to stand up to 112MPH winds which are akin to either a category 2 or 3 hurricane. But with enough turbines present, the winds would not be able to reach those speeds, limiting the destruction of the turbines, as well as the cities behind them. The turbines would also be expensive to build. But the cost-savings benefit would offset such an expense. They are cheaper than the massive seawalls that shore-lined states are building to protect themselves. They are also self-sufficient; by harnessing the winds of the hurricane that they are slowing down, they are able to produce much more energy.
Reference: opengreendoors.blogspot.com
