October 14th, 2007

So you want to install solar panels …

Posted by Dan Sharp

We’d like to introduce you to Dan Sharp, a new member of our Low Down team. Dan is living proof that you can live a normal, comfortable (and relatively inexpensive) life and still be VERY green. He and his wife have made the easy changes – they’ve curtailed their use of paper towels, buy more local produce, and installed compact fluorescent light bulbs.  However, they didn’t stop there - Dan makes his own biodiesel at home, and most recently installed his own solar panels. We thought you’d like to hear about that project, as it shows both the ease of going solar and some of the unexpected bumps along the way!

Oh, one more note about Dan – with the assistance of Low Impact Living Director of Design Shayna Prunier, Dan and his wife Maya recently completed an amazing green remodel of their master bedroom. Dan, Maya and Shayna will be featured on the Living With Ed show on HGTV for this project – make sure to tune in Monday October 15 at 10:30 PM to see Dan,Maya and Shayna’s amazing work! (If you subscribe to satellite TV (DirecTV, etc), check your program guide - the show may be on at 10:30 EDT regardless of where you live in the country).

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We decided to install solar panels a few months ago. It was the natural progression after all of the other green changes that we’ve made in our home and lifestyle. I’m already making biodiesel for all of our transportation needs, so why not electricity too?

We started by minimizing our overall electricity usage before sizing the photovoltaic system.  We got rid of our freezer, eliminated the “beer fridge” in the garage, became diligent about turning off electrical devices when not in use and installed compact fluorescent bulbs. These measures alone reduced our monthly electrical usage by over 30%, from 600 to 400 kilowatt hours.  And, we got rid of some fossilized items in that freezer as well! It’s much less expensive to reduce your usage first and then install a photovoltaic system sized to meet your reduced needs. These simple changes literally cut thousands off of our solar cost. Low Impact Living advocates for this very strongly – the first step in any solar project should be reducing your energy use as much as you can.

The second step in the process was to identify a solar provider.  We were able to locate several in our area using the Low Impact Living website.  They came to the house, helped us figure out how many panels we needed and where they should be installed.

The next step was to get all of our paperwork into the “system” to reserve the rebate from our power utility.  Our solar provider helped out with technical information and system diagrams. Our city also required a building permit, which we got with a quick trip to the permit office.

So far so good. Now I took a slightly unusual approach - to save some cash (and because I have the required skills), I bought the panels and other equipment from the solar installer but did the work myself. I was amazed at how easily the components hooked together.  We just needed to run some conduit, hang the inverter on the wall near the sub-panel, and hook up the wires.  We flipped the switch and watched our meter spin backwards…success!

That’s when the hard part started. When the inspector from our City came to check out the panels and sign off on the building permit, he found some minor electrical items he wanted changed, so we fixed them and called him back out the next week.  Then he decided we needed an electrical permit, but the guy at the counter only issued a building permit.  It would have been nice to know that during his first trip to our house, or better yet at the permit office!  We also needed to install a sign warning that the electrical panel was hooked up to a photovoltaic system…again, I’m not sure why he didn’t mention that on the first trip.  On his third visit – a week later – he finally approved the system installation.

Once I was in the system as being an official solar customer, our power provider replaced the old meter with a new digital meter.  I missed being able to see the meter spin backwards, but the new meter promised to be more accurate and give all the required information for the net metering agreement (which allows you to send power out into the grid when you have excess and get it back later. For more info on net metering, click here).  The new meter came with a very detailed description of what the different displays meant and instructions about how to determine your power generation and power use in your home. That raised some red flags for me – very detailed instructions often mean a very complicated system!

So I let the system run for a couple weeks, then set off to confirm that everything was working properly.  Armed with the detailed instructions, I expected to see the system roughly offsetting our use, but (according to the meter) my electricity use skyrocketed instead, showing that we were using six times our previous consumption!

It turns out that my panels were working well but the meter wasn’t programmed correctly. Diagnosing the problem took numerous phone calls and hours of testing, but all of five minutes for the tech to reprogram.

Now that the meter is fixed, everything has been working perfectly.  My utility has assured me that my experience won’t be repeated with future customers, so at least someone will benefit from my pain!

My experience taught me several lessons that might benefit you if you decide to install solar panels.

• – Make sure to find a solar installer that has dealt with both your city and your local utility before. As my experience showed, some of your biggest challenges might be with the paperwork!
• – Most of you won’t install your own panels, so get a solar installer who provides a “turnkey” system. Make sure that your contract includes not just the installation itself, but also lays out how they will handle all the rebate paperwork, permitting, and post-installation issues.
• – Make sure to watch your system closely for the first few weeks after installation – you never know when something strange is going to turn up, and better to deal with it while you’re still in touch with your solar installer and permitting entities.
• – For more guidance on evaluating whether solar makes sense for you, read this previous posting on important things to consider.

As panels get cheaper and rebates get better, I hope more of you will join me in using solar power. It may take some patience, but the energy savings and the satisfaction of using renewable clean power from the sun will make it well worth it in the end!