The Solar Drop @ GoGreenSolar.com

install unisolar pvl laminate on a metal roof

2009-12-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple people ask me how to install Uni-Solar's flexible thin film laminate PVL product line on a metal roof. The unique part of Uni-Solar PVL product is it can be bonded directly to a metal roof between the ridges. Traditional solar panels would need racking and mounting components that are not required with a uni-solar PVL installation, therefore installing the laminate reduces balance of system costs. Also these thin film laminates are extremely durable since they are not made of glass like traditional solar panels.

I think the uni-solar product line works well when you have a lot of surface area to work with, aesthetics is a major concern in the project, or have a shady/cloudy project since thin film solar panels perform better than crystalline solar panels in those conditions. The video below is a good overview of how these unique thin film solar panels can be installed on a metal roof. What do you think about the uni-solar PVL thin film flexible solar panels?

energy needed to cook our turkeys

2009-11-26T14:39:00.000-08:00

As Americans across the nation flip on their ovens to cook their Thanksgiving turkeys, I'm sitting here thinking the nation's electric grid is going to take a big hit today to supply the energy required to power this historic day.

So how much power is it really going to take to cook our Thanksgiving meals? Has attempted to estimate how many kilowatt-hours (kWh) will it require to cook our country's beloved turkeys? I think not! I feel like doing some math today, so let's get to the bottom of this ever so important question.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. for Thanksgiving. American per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to17.5 pounds in 2007.

Most of the ovens in America are electric, according to Mr. Electricity's, How much electricity does my stuff use? the average oven uses 4,400 continuous watts when cranked up all the way, which is$5 typically required to cook a Turkey throughly. It takes approximately 4 hours to roast a 17lb turkey in the oven.

4,400 watts (oven) * 4 hours (time to cook) = 17,600 watt hours

17,600 watt hours / 1,000 watts = 17.6 kWh per turkey

45,000,000 (number of turkeys cooked) * 17.6kWh = 792,000,000 kWh

Since most people can't relate to 792,000,000 kWhs, let me quantify kWh to $. The average nationwide cost per kWh is 12 cents. Therefore it will cost $2.11 in electricity costs per turkey roasted today.

45,000,000 (number of turkeys cooked) * $2.11 (electricity cost) = $94,950,000

So I guess the Turkey suppliers aren't the only ones making a lot of money on Thanksgiving but the companies providing you electricity to cook your turkey are making close to 100 million dollars today!

792M kWh is a lot of energy, in fact I went to NationMaster to check up how much electricity is produced on an annual basis from all sources for each country around the world and I realized that 56 countries generate less than 792M kWh on annual basis! I hope that makes a good comparison of how much electricity is consumed to celebrate Thanksgiving by roasting turkeys in the oven.

I got a couple suggestions of how you can offset your dependence on the electric grid next Thanksgiving by going solar without breaking your pocketbook.

Global Sun Oven - Solar Cooker

When pointed in the optimal direction the can boil, steam, roast or bake food at cooking temperatures of 360° F / 182° C, making it ideal for cooking the majority of foods, including most turkeys. The Sun Oven takes advantage of the solar thermal energy produced by the sun to cook the food inside, no electricity is needed to run this oven.

GoGreen 1.4 kW Solar Cabana

The Solar Cabana is a unique method of generating solar power off the roof while enjoying the shade the cabana provides. This 8 panel cabana produces 1,480 watts per hour which will generate enough electricity to offset cooking your turkey in the oven every Thanksgiving in addition to reducing your annual electric bill for over 25 years.

The best part of the grid connected Solar Cabana is that it's the only complete solar electric system that allows you to get started with green energy under $10,000. The Solar Cabana may qualify for rebates and federal tax credits depending on your utility and taxable income.

Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at GoGreenSolar.com

solar technology trends at #solpwr09

2009-11-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

With over 26,000 thousand people attending Solar Power International 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center on the last week of October, the conference broke attendance records. The massive exhibition hall featured 929 solar companies throughout the entire solar industry supply chain. This year show was so large in scale, it was way too easy to get lost between the aisles of exhibitors. My objective of being at Solar Power International 2009 was not to visit every booth, but to scout out cutting edge solar photovoltaic technology. Here's what I think was cool at the show this year:

Solar Micro-Inverters:

The new Enphase D380 "TwinPack" Micro-inverter offers double the power at half the labor. The new D series product line focuses on the needs of a commercial installation in which it's much too cumbersome to install an Enphase M190 unit behind each solar panel. The Enphase D380 is called a "TwinPack" because it has two Micro-inverters within one housing.

The benefits include, reducing installation costs through the two in one design, Reduced balance of system costs and installation time are realized through a 50 percent reduction in the number parts, 33 percent fewer connections and junction boxes, the Enphase D380 also reduces installation time by an innovative cabling system.

Soon Enphase Energy is not going to be the only one offering a solar micro-inverter. DirectGrid, a company based in New York is developing it's own version of a micro-inverter that will initially only work combined with thin film solar panels and also have the option to add on smart grid compatibility. Direct Grid Technologies is a new player in the solar micro-inverter space but is a subsidiary of Island Technology which is in the business of the design, manufacture and support of utility power grid monitoring & distribution systems.

The picture of the mirco-inverter above shows the Direct Grid Technologies DGA-S300, which has an AC output of 300 watts 120/240 volts 50/60 hz. The DGA-S300 has a nominal DC input range of 12-170 volts, which is a wide range to accommodate many types of thin film solar panels.

AC Solar Panels:

Solar Panels that come off the manufacturing line with micro-inverters integrated are going to be the next trend in photovoltaic technology. As solar micro-inverter technology continues to improve and shrink in size, this could be the game changing technology that can make solar much simpler and more cost effective to install. Enphase had an interesting AC module for display that had a prototype inverter built into directly into the solar panel!

Solar Power Industries has partnered up with veteran solar inverter manufacturer, ExelTech to offer their own version of a AC solar panel. ExcelTech has been testing micro solar grid tie inverters for years and has an inverter design that has been field tested that is nearly ready for market! I think there are going to be a few companies releasing AC solar panels into the marketplace sooner than most people think. ExcelTech is supplying the micro-inverters to solar panel companies that integrate them into a solar panel, there are NO exposed DC cables. Unlike a typical solar panel in which you would see a junction box, an AC Solar panel has a mirco-inverter in place of a junction box.

LED Lights:

Every solar conference I've attended this year I'm starting to seeing more LED lights being offered. Finally the relationship between the LED lighting and solar energy industry is starting to develop. This year I saw both LED Streetlights and LED lights for residential and commercial buildings being displayed at select trade show booths. We need more people in the solar industry to help customers reduce consumption and then produce clean energy, LED Lighting is a critical product that can help us "reduce then produce"

Solar Panels:

Aesthetics is a major roadblock for mainstream homeowners to go solar. Not everyone enjoys seeing blue solar panels with silver frames and white back sheets on top of their roofs especially if the proper orientation requires the solar panels to be installed on roof facing the street. Say bye-bye to old school blue solar panels, blue is the new black.

Many of the major solar panel manufacturers are now offering solar panels with a black frame, solar cells and back sheet to give them a more low profile, sleek look that mainstream homeowners prefer over blue solar panels. The sleek solar panel pictured above is the SOLON Black 230W monocrystalline solar panel with a module efficiency of 14%. SOLON is major solar player in the European market, that is now aggressively offering solar panels in the U.S.

Solar is no longer flat, says Solyndra a manufacturer of tubular solar panels for the commercial flat rooftop market. The company unique solar panel product fits only with low slope commercial rooftops. Since the Solyndra solar panels capture light from 360 degrees, their product is capable of converting direct, diffused and reflected sunlight into electricity which enables Solyndra solar panels to generate more electricity per rooftop on an annual basis than a conventional solar panel installation.

Central String Inverters:

One of the downsides of owning a central string inverter is that every solar panel tied to the inverter will not be able to take advantage of MPPT (maximum power point tracking), which enables solar panels to harvest the most electricity as possible. Power optimizer solutions like the SolarMagic by National Semiconductor and SunMizer from Xandex allow photovoltaic system owners to increase solar power system output by assisting strings that are losing power due to mismatch, soling and shading issues.

SolarEdge has taken it a step further to combine central string inverters with power optimizers all in one offering at the same cost of buying a traditional central string inverter. The unique offering SolarEdge brings to the table is allowing each solar panel connected to its inverter to achieve MPPT since their product includes power optimizers. Central solar inverter, with module level MPPT at the same cost of traditional grid tie inverters, makes this company's value proposition very unique.

Balance Of Systems:

ZepSolar is innovating big time in the residential solar panel mounting. The rail free solar panel mounting system reduces both the number of parts and installation time significantly, thus making the process more efficient and cost effective for people who want to install solar on residential rooftops. Instead of using rails that traditional solar panels mount onto, ZepSolar directly connects the frame of "ZepSolar compatible" solar panels right onto the the roof.

Reducing parts means reducing labor and cost which not only benefits installers but homeowners too. Efficiencies throughout the entire solar value chain is the key to taking solar power mainstream and ZepSolar is a great example of new trends in solar panel mounting that increase efficiencies, wouldn't you agree?

I'm sure I didn't capture it all, did you see anything cutting edge at Solar Power International 2009 that I missed?

a smarter solar panel

2009-10-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Traditional solar panels are extremely sensitive to even the smallest amount of shade and mismatch. Typically solar panels must be properly matched and balanced in a string although tenKsolar has developed a new breed of "smart" solar panels that's not only improving photovoltaic performance and but making them easier to install. Based on their propriety RAIS (redundant array of integrating solar) technology the smarter solar panel has no single point of failure. Most traditional solar panels have a number of single points of failures which include a spot of shade, a short, or physical damage to in one place will dramatically drop the energy output of the whole panel.

tenKsolar's solar panels designed with RIAS technology are completely redundant, meaning they're not bothered by a little shade and if part of the panel should somehow be damaged, the rest of it operates as it should, no single point failure! That's why the folks over at tenKsolar call their product smarter than the average solar panel.

Also there are a couple features that increase the ease of installation. First the tenKsolar panels are universal and self balancing therefore mixing these solar panels into an array of other model solar panels will not result in mismatch.

The tenKsolar product increases saftey because of it's low voltage output and their unique ability to not generate any power until they're connected to a load. Traditional solar panels always put out power when the sun shines on them. This makes tenKsolar panels far safer and easier to work with during installation.

What do you think about tenKsolar panels?

rail-free solar panel mounting

2009-10-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, solar panels are a tedious process to install because the process of installing solar panels on a residential rooftop involves the rails to be cut, spliced together and the metal frame of the solar panels and rails themselves have to be grounded according to code. Currently the process is quite primitive and can be time consuming even though the two most popular solar panel mounting companies, UniRac and ProSolar are offering new products to reduce parts and installation time, the companies fail to remove the rails.

ZepSolar, a startup solar panel mounting manufacturer will be introducing a new way to mount solar panels to your home's roof without rails at the upcoming Solar Power International trade show in Anaheim.

The rail-free, auto-grounding drop-in solar panel mounting system is an ultra efficient method of attaching solar panels to your roof that according to the company installs 6 times faster than conventional systems and greatly reduces material waste while enhancing the structural integrity and aesthetics of solar panels.

Prices of solar panels have been dropping like a rock, since there is an oversupply of solar panels in the market. Although other system components such as inverters and racking systems have not dropped in prices as fast as solar panels. ZepSolar claims that by removing cumbersome rails out process of installing solar panels can save up to $1,000 per kilowatt installed. What do you think about ZepSolar's innovative approach to simplifying solar panel installation?

solar panels + grid alternatives = fun

2009-09-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

I had a great weekend volunteering for GRID Alternatives to install solar panels for a low income family in Lynwood, CA. For those of you who don't know GRID Alternatives, they're a non-profit who's on a mission to empower communities in need by providing renewable energy and energy efficiency services, equipment and training.

Since 2001, GRID Alternatives has been working to bring the power of solar electricity and energy efficiency to low-income homeowners, and to provide community members with training and hands-on experience with renewable energy technologies. GRID Alternatives believes making energy choices that are good for the environment can go hand-in-hand with improving the lives of those living in low-income communities.

It took Anna and Alan, experienced Grid Alternatives staff and the team of volunteers two full days at to complete the installation of the 1.4 kW solar electric system which consisted of 7 Canadian Solar 200 watt (CS6PE) solar panels, a PVPowered 2000 watt (PVP2000) grid tie inverter and Pro Solar mounting hardware.

The most difficult part of installing the solar panels over the detached garage was working on the concrete s-tile roof. These are very delicate type of roof tiles, walking on them without breaking them is impossible, it's like walking on egg shells. It took us extra time to replace all the roofing s-tile shingles that were damaged in the process. The hot Southern California climate did not spare us over the weekend, during the afternoon the s-tiles shingles became extremely hot making it even more difficult and uncomfortable to get the mounting hardware installed.

Before the 6 inch standoffs were installed and sealed with silicon, the fast jacks needed to be attached to the rafters of the detached garage. Also each penetrations needed flashing to ensure they are water tight. Locating the rafters in a building and making sure you're drilling into them is a challenging part of installing solar panels.

Once the standoffs were in place the roof team was ready for the rails which were assembled on the ground. We had to cut the Pro Solar Rails to size and have them prepared for the roof team to secure to the stand offs. There are many components involved with putting the rails together, which could be confusing if you don't have all your parts organized.

After the rails were passed on from the ground to the roof, they were immediately attached to the standoffs. Once we got the rails secured to the standoffs, it was time to get the solar panels mounted on top of the rails.

It was easier to get the solar panels mounted to the rails because we had a lot of workspace since we installed scaffolding before we started the project. Standing on the scaffolding helped us maneuver the solar panels to the approximate location to clamp it down to the rails.

Pretty soon we had most of the solar panels in place, as we installed each row of solar panels we had to make sure the we connected them in series and ran the grounding wire along the rails.

Before we installed the last solar panel, we wired up the junction box. This is the connection point from the solar array on top of the roof to the inverter in the garage.

Down in the garage, we installed the grid tie inverter and a separate DC and AC disconnects, which are the components on the left and rite side of the inverter. Even though the PVPowered inverter had an integrated DC/AC disconnect, code required separate external disconnects since the inverter was mounted in the garage. It was time consuming task to wire up the external disconnects but was worth it because it improved the saftey of the overall system. This picture was taken with the inverter and disconnects opened up so we can wire them up.

Since a grid tie system has to be connected to the service, we had to run the cables to the service side of the breaker box and add a 15 amp breaker to the bus bar, Alan took care of the utility side interconnection.

Once we flipped on the inverter, it took the grid tie inverter 5 minutes to boot up and like magic we were generating clean power! Even at 4pm the meter was still spinning backwards which was a good sign newly installed system working properly. The homeowners were very excited to see their meter spins backwards, it was a great feeling for all of us.

It was a pleasure spending the weekend with GRID Alternatives to install solar panels for a family that really needs them. I personally thought the experience was very rewarding. It was great interacting with the other volunteers and GRID Alternatives staff since we all share a common value, the love for solar power. Obviously there was much more to the installation then what you see here, check out the rest of the pictures on our community. GRID Alternatives is a not for profit company, if you like the work they do, don't forget to support them by visiting their website by clicking to logo below.

BP Solar's 230w solar panel

2009-09-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big fan of BP Solar panels ever since BP's CEO bashed on solar power technology and their solar panels caught on fire due to a faulty junction box. The big oil company continues to push their solar division further offering their own version of a 230w solar panel called the Endura series. The solar panel has a smaller power tolerance range of +3/-3 and has a lower voltage therefore higher current which drives the increased efficiency.

The BP Solar 3230N is a 60 cell polycrystalline solar panel with a potted junction box that includes six bypass diodes that improve heat management according to the company. The frame of the 3230N is unique due its "tubular" shape which increased the solar panels ability to handle higher loads. What do you think about BP Solar panels?

How much is a solar panel system for a 2,700 square foot home?

2009-09-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Everyday I get at least one email from a customer that asks, "How much is a solar panel system to power a {insert number of square feet here} home?" It's quite impossible to quote you the size of system that will meet your goals without understanding your individual project site and needs.

People who ask this question to me have not done enough research and typically indicate that they are just starting to explore solar power. More than often I lead customers who ask that question to the solar power calculator since it helps them realize all the variables required to figure out how many solar panels you really need.

The following reasons are why I can't give you clear cut answer to, how many solar panels you'll need for a 1,ooo square foot home:

#1 - The size of your home is not as important as how many kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year. This information can be found your last 12 months of electric bills

#2 - Typically grid tie solar panels are used to offset your highest cost of electricity if your being charged on a tiered rate structure by your utility company. Solar panels are most cost effective if you use them to stay out of consuming electricity in higher tiers. Therefore not always do people purchase a system that "eliminates their entire bill".

#3 - Your location matters, in particular if there is shading due to trees, vents, chimneys, other buildings..etc. You'll need more solar panels to meet your goals if you have to compensate for unavoidable shading. Different places across the world have variances in the number of sun hours they receive per day, which has an influence in the number of kWh you can generate per year in your location. Also the orientation

#4 - what's the intent of your solar electric system? Is it just to get started? Some people are satisfied to get started with a small solar electric system and then add more panels to their system later to keep the upfront investment of the system as low as possible to get started. The great aspect of a solar electric system it's completely customizable to your requirements, particularly your budget.

I hope this post highlights the most important key points that need to be analyzed before you can figure out how many solar panel you'll need. got any questions?

Solon's 230W black monocrystalline solar panel

2009-09-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

Solon is a well known company in Germany that supplies a lot of solar panels in Europe, the company is well known for it's dramatic commercials which help people realize how much energy falls to the earth from the sun everyday.

Here in the U.S. Solon solar panels are not very common, although recently I have started to see these very popular solar panels in Europe making their appearance in the U.S. market. Personally, i like black monocrystalline solar panels due to their increased efficiencies and improved aesthetics compared to polycrystalline solar panels.

The characteristics that makes this solar panel unique is its above average efficiencies combined with high output of 230 watts, yet price competitive compared to other monocrystalline such as Sanyo and SolarWorld solar panels. Check out the spec sheet below, what do you think about Solon solar panels?

What's the deal with Enphase?

2009-08-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Enphase Micro-inverter has built some serious buzz in the solar power industry since it solves many of the issues with using a central inverter. By adding an inverter behind every solar panel, the DC electricity generated by the solar panels is directly converted to low voltage AC at the solar panel level which increases the safety of the system. Also having an inverter behind solar panel makes the system more reliable because if one inverter fails, the entire system does not go down.

The major downfall with central inverters is that they are wired in strings, and the performance of the entire string of solar panels is equal to it's weakest solar panel, therefore if part of a solar panel is shaded the entire string will lose its ability to perform at it's maximum ability. The advantage of having a micro inverter behind every solar panel is that each panel has the power of MPPT (maximum power point tracking) reducing the performance losses related to shading.

I'd say the two major issues with the Enphase Micro Inverters today is how long will the inverters last when they are on top of hot roofs? Especially here in Southern California, during the summer temperatures under a solar panel have been measured to exceed 13o degrees. Will the electronics in the Enphase Micro Inverter be able to last 15 years?

Also, Enphase is having a supply and demand issue, according to the company one of their parts suppliers dropped the ball which has caused a drop in their production output. Many customers have been trying to purchase Enphase Micro Inverters although we have to turn them away because the product is on backorder with long lead times. What do you think about all the buzz around the Enphase Micro-Inverter? Do you think the concept of Micro-Inverters is a valid one?

SMA Sunny Portal goes mobile

2009-08-25T23:03:00.001-07:00

Customers are getting used to monitoring the performance of their solar electric system with SMA inverters and a webbox on their computer screens. But how about those people who live the on the go lifestyle that want to keep up to date of how much electricity their solar panels are producing? If you have a SMA SunnyBoy Inverter with a webbox, your inverter's data is uploaded to the SunnyPortal via the Internet. Recently, SMA launched their "mobile friendly" version of the SunnyPortal that you can access from your cell phone's web browser.

I think this is great offering that SMA brings to their table because it increases the customer experience of owning a solar electric system by being connected to the system anytime the owner wishes. Also people are more willing to talk about their system to others if they can bring the data with them and show other customers. Would you check on your solar panels from your cell phone?

Suntech's pluto tech breaks multicrystalline record

2009-08-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Recently the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Germany verified that the Chinese Solar Manufacturer, Suntech broke a world record for commerical grade multicrystalline solar cells. Suntech's Pluto technology clocked in at an efficiency of 15.6% in laboratory conditions. The previous record for commerical grade multicrystalline solar cells was set 15 years ago by Sandia National Labs.

According to Suntech, the Pluto technology is the primary driver behind the solar cell's great performance and can be applied to both mono and polycrystalline solar cells. The company has already began shipping solar panels that feature Pluto technology as more solar panel manufacturers compete to have the most highly efficient solar panel on the market.

What do you think about Suntech solar panels? Do you think Pluto technology will perform highly in real world conditions?

Carter's solar panels at the Smithsonian

2009-08-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Back in 1979 the Jimmy Carter Administration created the "Solar America" initiative, aimed to help Americans go solar, the White House itself was retrofitted with solar panels that heat water. Fast forward to 1986, Reagan removed the perfectly working solar panels, I wonder why? In 1991 the solar panels once used to heat the water at the White House were sold to Unity College which used them to provide hot water to their college cafeteria until 2005, the point in which the solar hot water system reached its lifetime.

Recently the The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History purchased the solar panel and have put them up for display. President Carter installing solar panels at the White House in 1979 serves as great symbolism of how the Carter Administration wanted to shape the energy future. What happened? Why did we go off track until today?

energy efficiency is the ticket to success

2009-08-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

According to a recent report released by McKinsey & Company, a consulting company energy efficiency can save the U.S. $600 billion by the year 2020. Also the report states our country can reach half our target towards lowering carbon emissions through energy efficiency. The report called, "Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy" stresses not only the environmental benefits but highlights the economic benefits investing in energy efficiency.

Even though energy efficiency is one of our largest sources of energy, it has been ignored in public policy, why? Today many new products are being released to decrease energy usage in homes and businesses. For example LED Light Bulbs are becoming more affordable and are a great way to create "negawatts" in our energy supply. How do you invest in energy efficiency?

SMA offers greater support for 100 amp services

2009-08-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

SMA is taking customer feedback and making proactive changes in their product line to serve customers even better. Recently the company modified their Sunyboy SB4000US inverter to be compatible with 100amp residential electric services. The current output on the SB4000US grid tie inverter has been reduced to 16 amps to comply with the NEC (national electric code) to provide more flexibility to installers to work on a 100 amp service.

Most homes in the U.S. have at least a 200amp service, although many older homes are stuck with a 100 amp service which can be costly and time consuming to upgrade. Having a 100 amp service can create a barrier to install a solar array between 3 or 4 kilowatts. With the modifications made by SMA to the SB4000US grid tie inverter, customers on a 100 amp service now have greater options on the size of solar array they can install using a SMA inverters.

The modified SB4000US inverters compatible with 100 amp services have to be special ordered since they are modified when the order has been placed.

economic recovery act of 2009 helps you buy solar

2009-08-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 passed earlier this year resulted in historic events for the solar power industry. But I noticed that many people out there are still not aware of the benefits. Today I want to highlight the key benefits this legislation has brought to people and organizations who choose to invest in solar panels.

tax paying corporations now qualify for a 30% federal tax grant in lieu of a tax credit. A "tax grant" works similar to a rebate in which the U.S. Treasury Department will send a corporation 30% cash payment based off the final cost of the system. This is a limited time offer, only solar electric systems which commence installation before the end of 2010 will qualify.

50% bonus depreciation has been extended for corporations who install solar panels by the end of 2009

$2,000 tax credit cap has been eliminated for solar hot water systems, now solar thermal panels can qualify for the full 30% tax credit.

There are many more provisions in the law that helps develop renewable energy technology, SEIA (solar energy industry association) has put together an executive summary that's really helpful, check it out below:

grounding your solar electric system

2009-08-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

According to the National Electric Code (NEC), all solar panel systems need to be grounded to code. At a minimum the NEC requires that all systems must have equipment-grounding conductors that connect the metal surfaces of the solar panels to a ground rod. typically grounding systems include the following items:

code compliant ground lugs screwed into each aluminum rail that touches the solar panel
grounding rod driven into the earth near the solar panels
stranded copper wire or solid wire connected to the ground lugs and then to the ground rod.

In Europe, grounding is not required, although here in the US it's a must, Homepower ran an excellent article about solar electric system grounding, check it out below:

phoenix testing green street lighting

2009-08-11T22:20:00.000-07:00

Phoenix has recently created it's first "green light district" in downtown, the city is testing new high efficiency LED streetlights that use fraction of the energy compared to standard incandescent streetlights. Streetlights are a major drain to our nation's electric grid by replacing old lighting technology with state of the art LED streetlights, cities can reduce their energy bills and their carbon footprint at the same time.

The pilot program put together by the city of Phoenix is testing different brands of LED streetlights along North Third St between Garfield and McKinley. The goal of the test is to determine the highest quality LED streetlights on the market to eventually convert the entire city of LED street lighting. LED streetlights can make a big difference, wouldn't you agree?

Suntech to lead solar panel production

2009-08-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

Suntech is a Chinese based solar panel producer that is now on track this year to overtake Q-Cells as top solar panel manufacturer in the world. Recently prices for solar panels have been dropping since there is an overcapacity in the supply of solar panels. It's a buyers market solar panels because companies like Suntech are keeping the industry well stocked, therefore giving buyers leverage of price. A couple years ago demand was exceeding the supply of solar panels which is never good for the buyer.

The solar panel in the picture above is the Suntech "Black Label" which is a low profile 175 watt solar panel that appeals to buyers who are seeking improved aesthetics. Suntech has an extensive product mix including standard crystalline solar panels and even Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) such as solar shingles and windows that can produce electricity.

bob villa learns about photovoltaics

2009-08-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

I found this video of Bob Villa learning about how solar power works and since many of you out there on there on the Internet are looking for a simple way to under stand how a solar electric system works, this is a simple to understand video of how you can offset your electric bills with solar power.

The payback on solar electric systems are becoming more attractive to homeowners since rebates and tax credits are available combined with the falling prices of solar panels while electric rates on continue to inflate.

I'm glad Bob Villa made this video since he's built such a great personal brand in the construction industry, this is the type of coverage that is needed to bring solar panels to every roof across America, what do you think?

solarfun increases solar panel efficiency

2009-08-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

SolarFun Power Holding Company is a publicly traded solar panel manufacturer, listed on NASDAQ as ticker symbol SOLF. The company today announced they have increased the efficiency of their solar panels by 5% using their second generation solar cells. The second generation solar cells by SolarFun are called SF2, they're full monocrystalline squares which take advantage of the entire surface area of their solar panels resulting in a higher power output.

The company's R&D department is dedicated to seek methods for increasing solar cell and panel efficiencies while reducing degradation. What do you think about SolarFun solar panels?

save money with a solar attic fan

2009-08-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today, I want to talk about a product that gets very little attention but can save you a lot of money on your summer cooling costs each year. We can all agree that the air conditioner the biggest energy hog on your electric service, when you flip your air conditioner on your electric meter starts spinning forward really quickly and your bill starts to rack up. What if you cut the number of hours your air conditioner runs everyday, how much money would that save you?

That's exactly what a solar attic fan does, it forces the hot air out of your attic, therefore cooling your living space below which requires the air conditioner to kick on less everyday the solar attic fan is running. Many people can't afford the upfront investment of purchasing a grid tie solar electric system that can offset a majority of your electric bill so I tell many consumers to start with a solar attic fan. It's more cost effective to first figure out whats to become more energy efficient and then produce clean energy. what do you think?

sanyo's personal solar panel

2009-08-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sanyo is known for high efficiency solar panels that go on top of homes and businesses. But recently the company has released a over the shelf product in Japan called the Eneloop Portable Solar Generator. The personal solar panel is geared towards people on the go who need to recharge mobile devices. These type of small products are a great way to introduce people to what solar power can do on a larger scale.

Do you think we will see more portable solar power generators come onto the market? The Eneloop looks very sleek, I wonder how many watts the solar panel is, does anyone out there have more information about this product?

we got solarmagic

2009-08-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of SolarMagic by National Semiconductor? The "power optimizer" is a new type of device that is gaining popularity in the solar photovoltaic market. Solar panels wired in strings on a central inverter are only as good as their weakest link. For example, if part of a solar panel was shaded due to a chimney, the entire string would lose its ability to harvest the maximum power. With SolarMagic you can "assist" a string for each solar panel to reach it's MPPT (maximum power point tracking) in which you will harvest the most electricity possible.

SolarMagic can also prevent power loss from panel-to-panel mismatch, different panel orientations and tilts, or different string lengths. Mismatches on a string of solar panels are the culprits of power loss and installers minimize mismatches by reducing the size of the solar array to avoid shade, accepting a lower energy output per square foot, or adds extra solar panels in a different part of the solar array, all options either cost money, depreciate efficiency, and lose aesthetic appeal for the system owner. SolarMagic units are used on conjunction of a blocking Diode. You need one SolarMagic unit per solar panel on the string that you want to "assist". What do you think about SolarMagic?

apollo solar developing smart grid tie inverter

2009-08-01T23:13:00.001-07:00

Apollo Solar has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy to develop a "smart grid tie solar inverter" The goal of the program is to allow solar photovoltaic systems to be more integrated to smart energy systems for homes and businesses. Compared to a standard grid tie solar inverters the new smart solar grid tie inverter that Apollo Solar is developing today focuses on intelligent system controls which improves the power quality and reliability, increases integration with the existing U.S. electrical grid. The objective of the smart grid tie inverter is to give the solar electric system owner the ability to plan and control the use of power.

As the "smart grid" continues to be deployed across the US, it's about time solar grid tie solar inverter companies have started to think about electrical power more than the contribution from the solar panels. What do you think about "smart grid tie solar inverters" that enable consumers to control their power usage?