Clean Solar Panels

I sprayed down my solar panels on Sunday morning. My production that day was over 11% higher than previous days. A light layer of dust on the panels seems to be OK, but anything more does definitely affect production.

Read more...

Solar Panel System Turned On

I received the notice that my solar panel system was officially turned on June 13 although it was commissioned on June 11. I learned that the installers actually turned the system on when they came back to my house to wrap-up the installation. My system actually started producing on June 1, 2012. Here is a snapshot of my system's production for June:

That is pretty good considering my panels are still dirty from the installation and a summer rain storm that happened the day after they were installed. If I was disappointed with any part of the process, it was that the panels were dirty when they were installed and the installers did not clean them.

I used the Go Solar California incentive calculator to estimate the production of my solar system. That estimate was less than my guaranteed production from Sungevity and my actual production for the month of June is even higher than that. My system actually produced 134kWh more than my guaranteed production! That is enough to make me think that my system will perform better than I expected this year.

Here is the Go Solar California estimate:

Read more...

Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 5

Friday, May 25 was the final day of installation for our solar panel system from Sungevity. Brian and Andrew from Kuykendall Solar had to come inside to attach the data cable to my switch, but other than that it was all about getting my panels wired. They got the system installed on time, despite all of the delays in getting materials. It was s very painless installation.

The system was even inspected by the city today and passed. Now all we are waiting for is Southern California Edison to power up the system. I hope they can get it done in less than a month. It would be great to be producing electricity with our solar panels before the heat of summer arrives for good.

A solar lease is a great thing. You don't have to pay any money up front. You only pay once your system starts producing electricity. Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

Read more...

Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 4

Day four of our solar panel installation was trouble free. The guys from Kuykendall got all of the panels installed. They didn't have to go into the house at all that day. So far our Sungevity system has been installed ahead of schedule. I just hope Southern California Edison can get it powered up ahead of schedule.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes. You don't have to pay anything up front. You only start paying for electricity once the system starts producing.

Read more...

Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 3

The guys from Kuykendall had to come into the attic again today for a few hours. They started their day at eight and finished up around five-thirty. They finished in the attic, installed all of the mounting hardware on the roof, installed the inverter and conduit in the garage and installed the box and conduit on the outside of the house. They even got six panels installed on the roof today! I hope they are back on schedule.

Here are photos of the progress from today:

I even got a Sungevity sign in my yard.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

Read more...

Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 2

Day two of our solar panel installation got off to an early start. Andrew from Kuykendall Solar showed up at 6:45. He had to do some work in the attic, so it made sense for him to start before it got too warm outside. Our shipment from Sungevity did not arrive yesterday, so it was supposed to arrive today. It turns out that it was shipped to Kuykendall's shop about two hours north of my house this afternoon.

It seems like Kuykendall is going to be behind the eight ball to get this installation done by Friday, but Brian has a good attitude. The roof doesn't look much different from yesterday since Andrew did a lot of work installign conduit in the attic.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

Read more...

Sungevity Solar Panel Installation - Day 1

Brian and Andrew from Kuykendall Solar arrived at my house before eight this morning to begin the installation. The panels and mounting hardware were supposed to arrive today as well. The shipment ended up being delayed until tomorrow, but Brian and Andrew had enough items from previous installations that they were able to get started with cutting tiles and installing flashing on the roof. It was a hot day today, but they persevered until around four in the afternoon.

The shipment is supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon, so Andrew will get started running conduit in my attic tomorrow morning. From there, he will move into the garage to get ready for the inverter installation. Brian said that the goal is to have my solar system installed by this Friday.

I don't know what caused the delay in materials being delivered, but Brian and Andrew are going to have to work hard to get my system installed in about three days. Here is what my roof looks like this evening.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

Read more...

Solar Permit Approved

I received an email yesterday from my Sungevity project manager Ian that my permit has been approved and the installation could start as early as Monday. Today he confirmed that the installation will start on Monday, exactly three weeks from the time the permit was submitted to my city. That is fast, considering Sungevity estimated that it would take 4-6 weeks for approval.

I am really getting excited now!

Read more...

Plans Submitted for Permits

I was travelling April 13-19. It was just a business trip to Texas, North Carolina and Georgia.

I received an email from my Sungevity Project Manager, Ian, while on April 16. He let me know that the design review of my project was complete and that he would contact me to review the project in the next few days. I let him know I was travelling and asked him to call me the following week.

We finally spoke on April 26. Ian was responsible for most of the delay, but I was not even thinking about it or I would have called or sent him and email. We reviewed the plans and every piece of the system, which took maybe ten minutes at the most. My next communication from Ian was that my plans were complete and ready to be submitted for permits. I received that email on April 27. He let me know that in my town, permits can take four to five weeks. My installer, Kuykendall Solar, was supposed to submit my plans on April 30.

Read more...

California Solar Initiative, Confirmed Reservation Notice

I received an email from the California Solar Initiative on April 24 confirming my reservation for rebates. Here is the text of the letter:

Congratulations! This letter confirms that a Reservation has been approved for your proposed Photovoltaic (PV) project under the California Solar Initiative Program.

Details regarding your reservation are listed below:
Application Number: SCE-CSI-#####
Application Type: Residential
Host Customer: My Name
Installation Address:My Address
CEC – AC Rating: 5.471
Design Factor: 99.538%
CSI System Size: 5.446
EPBB/PBI Incentive Rate $350.00 per kW
Reserved Incentive Amount: $1,906.00
Reservation Expiration Date: 4/24/2013

The reserved incentive amount is determined by the proposed system listed in the Reservation Request documentation. Please note that the actual incentive payment may differ from the amount stated in this letter if the installed system changes.

Please complete the installation and submit the Incentive Claim package by 4/24/2013. Permission to Operate must be issued before the Incentive claim is submitted. To ensure timely processing of the Interconnection Application, please submit the NEM application, single line diagram and signed Interconnection Agreement to customer.generation@sce.com immediately after receiving this Reservation Confirmation. With this approach, the PTO should be issued within 2 to 3 weeks of receiving the final inspection card. The application will be CANCELLED if PTO has not been issued and the Incentive Claim package has not been submitted by 4/24/2013. For more information regarding the Interconnection Application process, please visit www.sce.com/nem.

Reservation Expiration Date extensions may be available depending on cause of delay at Southern California Edison's discretion. Please refer to the current California Solar Initiative Handbook for specific requirements and exemptions.

The Incentive Claim Form can now be completed online at: https://sce.powerclerk.com.

Please note the CPUC ordered California Solar Initiative Phase One Modifications effective July 14, 2011. One of these modifications requires all applications over 10 kW to take Performance Monitoring and Reporting Services (PMRS) and report 15-minute interval kWH production data to the Program Administrators. Please refer to Section 5.5.1 of the current California Solar Initiative Handbook for specific requirements and exemptions.

The CSI handbook has been finalized by the California Public Utilities Commission but may be subject to future changes. Obtain the latest version at: http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/documents/

Read more...

Sungevity Welcome

I requested my free iQuote on Wednesday, March 31. A Sungevity solar associate, David, sent me an email that same afternoon. I needed to provide my last 12 months of kWh usage from SCE. He also asked me what some of the reasons I was thinking about going solar were. I told him I wanted to save money, save the planet and increase my home value. He set up a call with a Sungevity solar consultant, Brian, for the next day.

Throughout the process of evaluating solar providers, Brian was very responsive and did not put any pressure on me. He answered all of my questions and put up with my continual analysis. He was great to work with. I told Brian that I decided to move forward with Sungevity on Friday, March 30. I asked him if he knew I was going to make that decision from the beginning. He told me that he had a good idea because of the amount of analysis I was doing. Brian said it would take four to six weeks for the panels to be installed and powered on, but that it would depend on me and how fast I get done what they need me to do.

Brian sent my performance guarantee and lease agreement to me via email while we were on the phone. I reviewed the documents and esigned them very late that night or early the next morning. We had some friends over that night, so I didn't finish reviewing and signing the documents until they were gone.

My Sungevity project manager sent me an email on Monday, April 2. It outlined the next steps in the process. I needed to schedule a two-hour home visit, let me know that there was a FedEx package heading my way with documents that I needed to review and sign and that I needed to review the Sungevity Installation Overview that he attached to the email. Ian was very helpful answering any questions that I had. It turned out that they scheduled the home visit with a different installer than I had initially been told would be working on my project. This surprised me a bit because I had called the previous installers references and even visited an installation. Ian said I could choose between the installers, but if I chose the original installer I would be working with a different project manager. I chose to move forward with the new installer and asked for references and photos.

Ian set up an appointment for the home visit with Brian Kuykendall fron Kuykendall solar on Friday, April 6. He also sent me some installation photos, the link to Brian's website and some references the following day. I sent some emails to the references and they all raved about Brian. I asked Ian to have Brian bring some more installation photos with him to the meeting.

I received the FedEx package on Wednesday, April 4 and reviewed and signed all of the documents that evening. I had to complete an SCE Home Energy and Water Efficiency Survey which took about 10 minutes to complete. I also had to provide a voided check for the automatic payments. I dropped off the FedEx package the next day.

The home visit was much shorter and easier than I thought. I didn't know what would happen, but Brian showed me some photos and then started measuring. The installations looked great, so I felt very comfortable with Brian doing the installation. We talked about the inverter placement, where conduit would be run and where the disconnect would be placed. We decided to put the inverter in my garage so there would only be a small disconnect panel added to the outside of my house. All of the conduit will be run through my attic. I was very satisfied with this decision. Brian was done with all of his measurements and on the road after a little over an hour.

At this point I should be a week ahead of schedule in the process because they normally plan for a two week window for the home visit. Hopefully I can stay ahead of schedule and have the panels installed in less than 4 months.

Read more...

Every Child Has a Light

Sungevity's goal is to provide 5,000 solar light kits. I did my part and ordered my Sungevity solar system. Read more about this program and then get your free iQuote.

Read more...

I Just Went Solar...Again

The first time I went solar was when I bought my Prius in 2009. I opted for the model with solar panels on the roof. I just decided to put solar panels on my home. I decided to go with a company named Sungevity. There were four main reasons I went with Sungevity:

1. Every Child Has a Light - This is a program that partners with Empowered by Light to give a solar light kit to a school in need in Zambia for each new residential solar installation in the US. Read more about the program.

2. Responsiveness - Sungevity listened to me and put together a system that takes into account my present and future needs and will provide me with 97% of my electricity. They also answered every one of my questions in a timely manner.

3. Pricing - I compared a few solar companies (I will get into details later) before deciding on Sungevity. Their pricing made sense to me because I will not reach any tier 3 or higher electricity pricing with their system and their lease pricing was aggressive.

4. Potential - I didn't know what to label this item, so I settled on Potential. For every referral that I give Sungevity that turns into a new system, they will give me $500 and the new customer $500. In addition, the new customer gets an iPad to use to monitor their system. That is a win-win situation.

Get A Free Sungevity Solar iQuote now! It only takes a few minutes.

Read more...

Bernard Buffet

I just discovered the art of Bernard Buffet today thanks to Fab.com. I spent some time browsing through his art on the internet and was really taken by his style. He created a lot of work during his lifetime and you can see changes to his style, but it remains very similar visually.

Check out his biography and take a look at his art. I don't think you will be dissappointed.

Read more...

Happy Holidays!

I have been very erratic with my posting lately. I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday season. I hope to get off to a good start in 2012.

Read more...

Not Feeling Creative

I am in a major creative funk. I actually took a trip to Puerto Rico last week and did not even take my camera. I was only there for three days, but even as recently as last year I would have never gone without my camera.

In addition, it has been way too long since I wrote a blog post. I just have not had much to say that I think other people want to hear about. I have been so busy with soccer that I have not felt like blogging at all.

I am hoping that I can come out of my funk for the holidays as it is a great time to take photos. I love taking pictures of holiday lights and the winter landscape.

Read more...