Let the sun shine on your home.

Solar PV and solar hot water are ideal for residential applications for several reasons:

• Economic benefit
  Offset and reduce current utility bills and add value to your home
• Environmental benefit
  Reduce your home's carbon footprint
• Be a beacon of good
  You can provide grassroots leadership by promoting renewable, sustainable, and clean energy
• Pride & contentment
  You'll feel good doing the right thing

A smooth process:

At solargaines, we'll walk you through every step from determining feasibility to final installation. Here's an idea of how things will flow.

• We’ll conduct a telephone interview to determine suitability, finding out things such as:
  • Do you have a southern facing roof or another site available for installation?
  • Are there any issues with age, pitch or type of roofing (slate, tile, metal?)
  • Are there any potential issues with shading?  (we’ll do a Google Earth analysis while on the phone with you)
• Next we'll come out and do a site evaluation that includes the following:
  • We'll take measurements including solar pathfinder readings.
  • We’ll take photographs of installation/design variables like location of breaker panel, etc.
  • We’ll conduct a more in-depth interview with you including collecting copies of utility bills so that we can custom design a system to best meet your needs.
• Once the evaluation and planning has been done we'll design the system and prepare a proposal.

• After the proposal has been accepted, we’ll order materials and begin scheduling construction/installation.
  • Place purchase orders with vendors
  • Submit plans for permitting
  • Schedule installation and inspections
  • Schedule final commissioning and sign-offs from county and utility company
  • Assist with filing of all paperwork related to federal, state and local incentives
  • Assist with financing if requested

Once your system has been commissioned, you get to sit back and enjoy your “double dividend” for the next 25 years…

Frequently asked questions:

• Will I still need to be connected to my utility company?
  Most likely, yes.  The benefit of solar systems is diminished when you go off-grid due to the cost and wastefulness of batteries.  Being connected to the grid is a good thing, though.  The current mandate for “net metering” makes it a requirement for the utility company to allow you to feed unused electricity that you generate back onto the grid and your meter will run backwards while this occurs.  Then when you need more electricity than your system is producing you will draw from the grid and your meter will run as it normally would.  The net effect is that you are getting full “retail price” credit for the electricity you “store” out on the grid when not using it.
• Are solar systems allowed by my homeowners association or condo association?
  Completely dependent on the association……
• Can my roof handle the weight?
  The systems do add additional weight to the load-bearing roof, but the engineering of the racking system spreads that out and typically makes additional structural support unnecessary.
• Is there any ongoing maintenance?
  No maintenance, but your system should be inspected every so often to make sure that it is operating at its peak.
• How can I tell what my system is producing and how efficient it is?
  We can install monitoring equipment that can track your systems performance, similar to how a thermostat measures the temperature in your house.
• How long do PV panels last?
  PV panels are warranted to 25 years but will last longer.
• What happens on cloudy days?
  The power output of your panels is reduced on these days, however it is never completely diminished as long as it is daytime.
• Do I need a new roof?
  Depending on the age of your roof, if it is near the end of its useful life, you may want to consider a new one since your PV panels are expected to last a minimum of 25 years.
• How are roof penetrations made/waterproofed?
  On a rack system that requires roof penetrations, the various fastening systems used are all self-sealing.
• Do the panels need to face south?
  South is the preferred orientation for mounting the PV panels, however, depending on how far off of south they are mounted, the efficiency impact may be minimal.
• Are the panels fragile?
  No. The panels are silicon solar cells encased in tempered glass with plastic backing and are much more durable than one might imagine. They can withstand significant impact.

Every person at solargaines feels the tug of two kinds of responsibility. The first is to our customers. Our responsibility to you is to do our work on time and on budget. To deliver the very best quality and service. You count on us for all of that and we never take your trust in us lightly. Secondly, we feel responsible for the Earth and the next generations. If we don’t start to do the right things today then tomorrow will, sadly, be very, very different.