Transcript for Ask a Solar Expert: The Solar Installation Process

Hi, my name is Aaron Hesterman and I am a Technical Sales Specialist for Bella Energy. Today I’m going to talk about the process of installing solar on your home. Now I can’t speak for every solar company but the overall process of installing solar with Bella Energy starts with a free solar consultation. During which we assess your solar potential and locate any shading concerns that could affect your production. After you’ve received your project bid and signed a service agreement, our NABCEP certified system auditor will remeasure your roof and finalize your system layout. Next, your system’s construction plans are assembled by a second NABCEP certified designer, providing an extra level of solar construction expertise. During this time, our team will collect any necessary permits for your jurisdiction and work with you to file all the necessary Xcel Energy rebate paperwork. After your panels, racking and inverters arrive, your project will be scheduled and the actual installation usually only takes place in a couple of days. To ensure consistent quality…all of our installations are performed by Bella Energy solar installers, who on average have about a megawatt of solar energy installation experience. In short Bella Energy has solar energy experts to help you along every step of the way to ensure that you are getting the best system possible from a team you can trust.

What are Xcel Energy Solar Rebates? from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Visit Xcel Energy’s Rebate Level Tracker here…

Hello, my name is Marty Gilligan and I’m with Bella Energy as a solar advisor. Today we are going to talk about the Xcel Energy Solar Rebate and more specifically the rebate drop schedule that was announced this last fall. (Fall of 2009) First the Xcel Rebate is composed of two different elements. One of them is the rebate which is 2 dollars (a watt) and the second one is the REC payment. The REC payment specifically is the part set to keep declining as Xcel Energy reaches their goals as set by the government.

So as you can see on the webpage which you can find on the link next to this video . Alternatively, you could go to Xcel Energy’s website, find Colorado, Residential, Solar Rewards and finally you will find the link that has all these price drops outlined.

What you’ll see is that over time, the overall rebate will continue to drop as each landmark is hit. To the right you’ll see what is in step, meaning how many or what portion of the rebate at that level has been approved (allocated). Now it is important to note that there is a lag time between when an application is submitted and when it is approved. So as you are tracking this, when the REC payment gets closer to filling a particular level, chances are you are already going to be looking at the next REC payment drop. As you’ll notice there are many more Megawatts of REC payments available at the lower payment rates, but this will only add to your out of pocket expense. So the name of the game here is to be able to get your rebate in as soon as possible so you can lock in. From there, we’ll have 9 months to install the system.

What is Net Metering? Ask a Solar Expert from Bella Energy from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Transcript of Video:
Hi my name is Alison Hyde and I am a Solar Advisor for Bella Energy. The question today is what is net metering and how does it work? So you have probably heard about “spinning your meter backwards” and being about to put electricity back on the grid. And net metering is a method of metering that lets you get credit for every kilowatt hour you put back on the grid. So when you have a solar electric system installed, the utility is going to come out and give you a new bidirectional net meter. That is going to be able to keep track of not only the kilowatt hours your house is pulling from the grid, but the amount of electricity your system is putting back on the grid.

So say it is a sunny day, and you system is chugging away, you’re out of the house or on vacation or your home just isn’t consuming as much electricity as that system is putting out (producing) then that electricity is going to flow onto the grid. Then you are going to get a 1 to 1 credit, so for every kilowatt hour you put back on, you will get a kilowatt hours worth of credit from the utility for that excess production. So what you produce during the day you will be able to use up at night, and the same principle happens as you’re producing more energy in the longer day’s of summer and you can use up those credits in the winter.

Because of net metering we can design a system to your total annual kilowatt hour or energy usage, not just your instantaneous demand. And in most cases what is going to happen is the utility will roll over excess production throughout the year, from month to month, and at the end of the year you can either opt to roll those credits over into the next year or to have them pay you out for your excess production. In most cases what they are going to pay you out at is going to be the wholesale rate or the utility’s avoided cost of energy. So as you’re paying about anywhere from 9 cents per kilowatt hour to 11 cents per kilowatt hour for your electricity what you’ll get paid for your solar production at the end of the year is going to be somewhere in the neighborhood or 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

What should I look for in a solar company? from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Transcript for: Ask a Solar Expert: What should I look for in a solar company?

There are a number of factors that differentiate various companies as a quality solar company. Before there were incentives around that came through with Amendment 37 in late 2004, there were only about 6 companies that did exclusively photovoltaic systems in the state of Colorado. Now there is over 220, last I counted, last I checked with the COSEIA website. And so to know that your company will be around long enough to honor it’s 10 year or 5 year parts and labor guarantee is a very valuable piece of mind.

We’ve had an influx of companies from other states, we’ve also had a number of contractors that used to do something else now they’re doing solar. Solar isn’t rocket science by any means, but it is something that when it comes to technical trouble shooting you’ll be very glad you have a company that knows what they are doing. Part of that is a certification, NABCEP which stands for North American Board Certified Energy Practitioner. It is an absolute “bear” of an exam, it is an installation exam that takes quite a bit of qualifications in order to achieve that status. I myself have NABCEP certification as do 7 others in Bella Energy, and it says that we know what we are doing. Now, I’m not an installer, I’m in sales and I believe it really benefits me in my sales because I know exactly the bits and pieces that come together to make a system work.

Having a Colorado company means that we have roots here that extend beyond solar. We’ve got roots because we live here and are from here. We’re not from somewhere else and will possibly pull up tent stakes if incentives go away and the market shrinks. Having a company with over 29 to 30 years experience working exclusively with solar in the State of Colorado, having the first grid tied system and the first commercial system in the State of Colorado I think really differentiates Bella Energy as a leader and a company that should be considered.

In summary, of what to look for in a company for solar. I would say that having the proper certifications including COSEIA, the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association certification is an absolute minimum. NABCEP certification, North America Board Certified Energy Practitioner is a little bit above and beyond but should be considered in that does your selected solar company have at least one person that is NABCEP or COSEIA certified? That they are a Colorado company, if that’s important to you. If they appear to be a company that will be around here in your area, IE the Denver, Boulder, Metro Area in 10 year’s time to honor their warranty, that is of huge value. Obviously price is a concern for most people. You don’t have to be the lowest price, but you do have to be in the “right” range in comparison to other bids. And of course buying and using products that are made in America. It’s becoming more and more of a catchword. We use products that are made in America form the panels to the racking to the inverters, and we have bits, pieces and parts from all over the world but the majority of what we use is made in the United States, assembled, manufactured in the United States. So if those are important things to you, make sure you have them on your selection criteria for a quality solar company.

Ask a Solar Expert: High Efficiency Solar Panels from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Transcript of Ask a Solar Expert Video:

What are high efficiency solar panels?

In short, one would really only need to consider a high efficiency panel if they had a production goal, or a system size goal that could not be achieved with they space they have on their roof.

The long story is, a watt is a watt. (a watt is a unit of power) A watt coming off of or out of a high efficiency solar panel is identical to a watt coming off a standard efficiency panel. There is no difference to your house, your electric bill, to the offset in your electric bill… its all a watt. So, a high efficiency panel will allow you to achieve a given system size in less area.

Essentially if you can achieve your production goal, or your system size goal, with you roof space you have using standard efficiency panels you should do so. Because it will be cheaper out of pocket and have a short payback and a better return on investment.

What brands of high efficiency solar panels are there?

If you are in a scenario, whether residential or business, where you need to look at high efficiency panels in order to achieve your production or system size goal. There are essentially only two companies that make high efficiency panels, one is Sanyo and one is SunPower. In lab conditions SunPowers have a slightly higher efficiency than Sanyos. However, in real life situations in an area like Colorado where we have high heat, Sanyos, watt per watt, will actually give you higher kilowatt hour production per year per watt than a SunPower. The reason is two fold. Number one, when Sanyo comes out of the factory the rating (variance) on that panel is minus zero and plus 5 percent. Sunpower, good panel, but comes out of the factory at minus five percent up to plus five percent. So what that means is if you buy a 210 watt Sanyo panel, that panels has the potential to produce that or five percent better but no worse. SunPower ,if you bought a 235 watt panel, again with the comparisons based on watts per square foot, as the 235 watt panel is larger than a Sanyo 210. So don’t be fooled by the numbers look at how many watts per square foot. Anyways the SunPower panel will produce anywhere from five percent less than 235 watts to five percent more than 235 watts. The second reason and way that a Sanyo panel will produce more kilowatt hours per watt per year here (Colorado) is that the Sanyo cell is a hybrid technology. There is a amorphous thin-film that is wrapped around the silicon cell, which translates to the ability to maintain higher voltage in higher heat. So three, four, five months a year, with that hybrid technology the Sanyo will be able to produce betterthan the SunPower. Overall, a watt of Sanyo will produce more in Colorado than a watt of SunPower.

Ask a Solar Expert: Climate Smart from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Live in Boulder County and want to learn more about Climate Smart?

Visit Bella Energy’s Climate Smart page…

Transcription: What is the Climate Smart loan program?

Boulder County is about to roll out the second round of the Climate Smart Loan Program. The Climate Smart loan program is a really innovative way for homeowners and business owners to get financing for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy on their property.

This a program that they piloted first in the spring and now it’s time to do it again. Not going to give you too many details on the mechanics of the program. For information about that I would recommend you go to www.climatesmartloanprogram.org

I do want to talk about how you can use it to put solar on your home, and they steps you can expect in doing that. One of the nice things about this program is that it helps a lot of people get around the upfront cost of going solar. If you’re having trouble finding funding to go solar, or you haven’t quite found the options that you want to finance a solar system it is a great way to do it. The nice thing about this program is that the cost of the loan is associated with your property taxes. So, if you don’t think your are going to be in your home long enough recoup the value of the system, you can do that. The debt will stay with the property, so you don’t have to take that solar debt with you if you move.

If you’re interested in using Boulder County’s Climate Smart Loan Program to install solar on your home, the first step would be to attend a mandatory workshop. These workshops are going to be held starting July 28th and going through September 1st at various locations around the county. So, go to www.climatesmartloanprogram.org to find out which workshop would work best for you. They’ll be covering things like program details, application timelines, and deadlines you need to pay attention to.

Once you know that you want to use this program, give us a call and we’ll come out to assess your site for solar to give you a bid. A few things that we’ll be looking at are measuring your roof, seeing that you’ve got a good site, that you don’t have too much shade and looking at how we are going to tie into your electrical service.

Don’t wait too long to give us a call because if it is anything like what happened in the spring there are going to be a lot of people, and you want to make sure you’ve got time to look at your various options for going solar. There is more that one way to “skin a cat” so you’ll want to consider all the recommendations you’ll be getting to find the right system for you. One very important thing is that when you do get these bids there will be a not to exceed amount that is required by the Climate Smart Loan Program. That amount will be the post rebate amount of the total system cost. So we can accept the Xcel rebate for you, which is about 50 percent of the system cost. The amount that you want to go to the loan officer for is the post rebate cost, but the pre-federal tax credit. We cannot accept the federal tax credit for you, and that is very important to remember.

There is also a bid estimate cover sheet that we’ll need to fill out, which you will take with you when you go to apply online. So the first step in applying is actually an online process. It will just take a couple of minutes and you’ll just enter some general information about the project that you want done and an estimate of the cost.

From there, the County will pre-qualify all the loans and set-up a time for you to meet with the loan originator. When you meet with the loan originator make sure that you detail out are looking for a loan that is the post rebate amount of the total project cost.

After you’ve met with the loan originator, the county will then go out and sell bonds to finance all these projects and determine the interest rate on the loan. Expect about a month to go by from when you met with the loan originator to when you get the notice to proceed with your project and that final approval. So once you have the notice to proceed we then have 180 days to get your system up, installed and running.

You know that your job is done when you’ve passed inspection. Once that inspection has been passed is the time when you need to fill out a home owner’s acknowledgment form, take a copy of your inspection report from your permitting authority and an invoice from us and take that to the county. That will release payment to us and you have essentially gotten a new solar system with no upfront cost to you.

You’ll then begin paying that loan back when your property taxes come due. So for some people that will be will be a once a year payment, for some it will be a twice a year payment and for some that is a monthly payment.

What are the different types of solar? from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Ask a Solar Expert is an online video series devoted to answering your questions about solar energy. Each week we select a user based question to answer online in our video series. If you have a solar question you would like answered click here to Ask a Solar Expert…

Ask a Solar Expert: Roof from Bella Energy on Vimeo.

Generally speaking for solar installations, a desirable roof is naturally south facing. Ideally you will have a free and clear space without a whole lot of obstructions, like plumbing vents, skylights and other items. If those obstructions are there they can certainly be designed and worked around. Additionally, East and West facing roofs can be utilized. You don’t get as much production and yield out of those roofs, however you can still have a very viable solar PV system.

Many times, customers will ask, “If my roof is no brand new, will I need to replace it?” This would need to be reviewed on a case by case basis. Generally speaking, we design systems to last for 30 years and beyond. So that being said, obviously if you are at the end life of your roof, it is recommended that it be replaced. Otherwise you will endeavor greater cost to take the system off replace your roof and have it reinstalled.