What Is Powerhome Solar
Powerhome Solar is a solar panel company that provides all your solar system requirements under one roof. The company was launched in 2014 by founder and CEO Jayson Waller and only uses solar panels produced in America and offers a variety of solar-related services. This includes the sales, financing, designing, and installation of solar panels and energy systems for commercial andresidential solar markets. They also assist with getting the required permits.
Between 2015 and 2020, the Powerhome grew from 15 employees servicing 110 customers to over 2,000 employees bringing solar systems to more than 8,000 customers. Although these are the numbers stated on the company website, other sources report both more and fewer employees and more customers . In 2019 the company rolled out its commercial division in Michigan.
Powerhome Solar is dedicated to the mission encompassed by the companys motto Building A Movement®. Their aim is to install solar panels on as many homes and businesses as possible. That means they strive to make solar energy systems more affordable and accessible to more American households and businesses.
While many companies claim that they are exceptional, Powerhome has the achievements and awards to back up this statement. The company made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America three times in four years. Powerhome was listed amongst the top 300 companies on this list all three times.
Implication Onto Electricity Bill Management And Energy Investment
There is no silver bullet in electricity or energy demand and bill management, because customers have different specific situations, e.g. different comfort/convenience needs, different electricity tariffs, or different usage patterns. Electricity tariff may have a few elements, such as daily access and metering charge, energy charge or peak demand charge . PV is a promising option for reducing energy charge when electricity price is reasonably high and continuously increasing, such as in Australia and Germany. However, for sites with peak demand charge in place, PV may be less attractive if peak demands mostly occur in the late afternoon to early evening, for example residential communities. Overall, energy investment is largely an economical decision and it is better to make investment decisions based on systematical evaluation of options in operational improvement, energy efficiency, onsite generation and energy storage.
If Your Firm Goes Bust Payments Won’t Transfer Automatically
If you’re on a feed-in tariff , your payments won’t transfer automatically to a new provider if your current supplier goes bust.
This is different from the smart export guarantee if you’re on a FIT, regulator Ofgem will appoint a new supplier for you, but payments won’t start until your contract starts.
The new company will contact you to confirm your tariff information and it must also confirm whether it’s a FIT licensee. If it’s not, you may need to find another FIT supplier to continue to receive payments.
As above, you’re able to choose a different supplier from the one Ofgem appoints for you if you wish, but it shouldn’t really matter, as your FIT rates won’t change.
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Investigate Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
Before starting the process of powering your home with solar energy, homeowners should investigate their energy use and consider potential efficiency upgrades. Homeowners should be well aware of their total electricity usage, and consider low-cost and easy-to-implement efficiency measures before choosing solar.
Explore the following resources to reduce your electricity use:
- Home energy audits: A home energy audit can help you understand where your home is losing energy and what steps to take to improve the efficiency of your home.
- Appliances and electronics: Use your appliances and electronics more efficiently, or consider investing in highly efficient products.
- Lighting: Switch to energy efficient lighting, such as LED light bulbs.
- Heating and cooling: If you use electricity to heat and cool your home, your heating and cooling needs will significantly affect the amount of solar energy you need. Weatherizing your home and heating and cooling efficiently will reduce the amount of electricity you need to produce with solar.
What Is The Smartpwr360 Package
Our SMARTPWR360º Package features a suite of energy-saving upgrades engineered to help your home consume energy more efficiently. This is an essential piece of our best-value package because it allows you to potentially maximize your savings with solar by utilizing the energy that your panels generate in a more efficient way.
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Solar Hot Water Systems
Yet another way to use solar energy at your home is to install a solar hot water system. Like photovoltaic solar installations, solar hot water setups use panels to capture energy from the sun. However, solar hot water systems dont use the photovoltaic effect to produce electricity rather, the panels used in these types of setups capture solar thermal energy and use it to heat up the water in your house. Solar hot water is a great way to transition your home away from traditional water heating systems that use fossil fuels like gas or oil.
Pay With A Credit Card For Extra Safety If You Can
Pay by credit card for something over £100, and Section 75 laws supercharge your consumer rights. Unlike with debit cards, cheques and cash, pay in full or in part on a credit card, and by law the lender’s jointly liable with the retailer.
This means you have exactly the same rights with the card company as you do with the retailer, so if it goes bust, you can simply take your complaints there instead and get money back if there’s no delivery. See our Section 75 guide for a full explanation.
If paying by debit card, there’s also valuable hidden protection that means you may be able to get your money back if something goes wrong. It’s called ‘chargeback’ and applies to most debit and charge cards, as well as Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards though it isn’t a legal requirement. See our Chargeback guide.
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How Much Energy Does A Solar Panel Produce
For the sake of example, if you are getting 5 hours of direct sunlight per day in a sunny state like California you can calculate your solar panel output this way: 5 hours x 290 watts = 1,450 watts-hours, or roughly 1.5 kilowatt-hours . Thus, the output for each solar panel in your array would produce around 500-550 kWh of energy per year.
All solar panels are rated by the amount of DC power they produce under standard test conditions. Solar panel output is expressed in units of watts and represents the panels theoretical power production under ideal sunlight and temperature conditions. Most home solar panels on the market today have power output ratings ranging from 250 to 400 watts, with higher power ratings generally considered preferable to lower power ratings. Pricing in solar is typically measured in dollars per watt , and your total solar panel wattage plays a significant part in the overall cost of your solar system.
If Your Home Has Solar Panels Installed By You Or Your Landlord Or Through A Rent
This is to ensure that you are making the most of the free electricity that the solar panels are generating. It may mean you need to change your routines and plan ahead, for example using your washing machine or dishwasher during the day rather than in the evening.
Solar photovoltaic panels convert the energy in sunlight into electricity, and this is effectively free electricity that can be used in your house . Surplus electricity is exported to the grid.
However, there will be times when youre using more electricity than the panels are producing, such as on overcast days or on dark evenings. At these times the extra electricity will be imported from the national grid, as it was before you had the panels, and you will be charged for it by your energy supplier at the normal rate.
A typical household array of solar panels is rated at around 3000 Watts . This means that while the sun is shining on them they will produce around 3000W of electricity as long as the panels face more or less south and are tilted at the right angle to receive the most sunlight, and that the panels arent shaded by a tree, building etc. On a cloudy afternoon in December, of course, that output might be nearer to 200W.
In order to know how to make best use of this energy, you need to have an idea of how much electricity different appliances use. Lets look at some typical power ratings :
Low energy light bulb: 15WFridge: 100W Microwave: 750WWashing machine: 2500W
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How Does Solar Energy Work
Technology allows us to harness solar energy in several different ways: , solar heating and cooling and concentrating solar power.
Solar heating and cooling, also known as solar thermal, allows us to capture energy from the sun to heat and cool spaces. Just like using solar energy for electricity, using solar energy for heating and cooling reduces dependence on other energy sources that aren’t as sustainable or environmentally friendly.
Concentrating solar power is the third way that the sun’s energy can be harnessed and also relies on solar thermal energy. With this method, mirrors reflect and concentrate solar energy to be stored and used later. This is done at concentrating solar power plants.
What Batteries Are Used In Off
Why do you need batteries if youre using solar energy? What kind of batteries work best? Two very common questions we hear from our customers when discussing off-grid electricity.
We specify batteries so you can truly be off-grid. It is the inclusion of batteries that differentiates off-grid with general solar power generation you see on many homes.
Most solar panel installations will supply energy to your home and then offload the excess into the grid. An off-grid system needs to retain some of that power for when the sun isnt shining. This is Britain after all so we need to plan for those times when youre not generating your own green energy!
The main type of battery to use right now is lead acid. They are ideal for long life, regular use and are very efficient. We tend to use AGM Maintenance Free 3000 cycle batteries in our solar systems as they offer the best balance of cost, longevity and efficiency. On professional and larger scale applications, we recommend the very best Lithium-ion cells.
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The Most Efficient Solar Panels
There are two types of solar panels: PV and thermal. The type most commonly used is photovoltaic solar panels these catch the suns energy and convert it into electricity. These enable you to power your home appliances. The other type of panel is solar thermal. These enable you to heat water for your home. Most homes will install solar PV as we tend to use far more electricity so this is the most efficient way to cut down on bills.
Your Solar Power Can Helps The Community
If you use less energy than your solar panels accumulate, you may be able to sell it back to the communal grid through the utility companysomething known as net metering. One of the clearest benefits to this is that you can further reduce your utility bills. Looking beyond that, this is a way to contribute to the grid, reduce the strain of electricity demands, and further help the environment by reducing the need to import non-renewable energy sources to the community.
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How Are Solar Panels Installed
We can install your solar panels on the roof of your home or on the ground on your property . The basic installation procedure includes installing metal rails on your roof, attaching the solar panels to the metal rails and connecting the panels to the solar inverter. For a more detailed overview of the installation process, check out our blog.
Utility Bill Rate Design
Good electricity rate design allows you to save money when you save energy. This might sound intuitive but not all provinces are same. Superior designs have low fixed monthly fees and tiered electricity rates. Inferior designs have high fixed fees and flat electricity rates.
Ontario scores near the front of the pack when it comes to these factors having time-of-use rates and fixed monthly fees of $26 .
For example, reducing your electricity bill from 1,500 to 750 kWh per month will save you 54% on your electricity bill in British Columbia, 48% in , but only 43% in Ontario!
Note that fixed monthly fees dont disappear even if you switch to solar youll pay them as long as you remain connected to the grid. But this isnt a bad thing $26/mo is a small price to pay for using the grid as your back-up energy source!
The only way to completely remove your fixed costs is to go off the grid, something most homeowners in Ontario dont do because of high battery costs.
Disconnecting from the grid also means that you wont be able to participate in your utilitys net metering program.
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Should I Install Solar Panels
You should install solar panels if youre looking for a way to save on energy expenses in the long run. While upfront installation costs can be high, the cost-benefit is clear: Installing solar panels on your home is financially and environmentally responsible. Using solar power will lower your electricity bills and earn you tax incentives. Solar panels are also great investments because they add value to your house and are exempt from property taxes.
Part : What Is A Solar Power System
The term solar power system includes any product or technology that runs on energy harnessed from the sun. This is typically self-contained, and universally renewable. This can also be as small a solar-powered night torch, and can also grow to massive proportions like a solar-paneled roof that covers your entire property. Regardless, a solar power system will comprise of the following cohesive components.
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How Can Homes Use Solar Power
If you are considering going solar, the most popular and efficient option is to install solar panels. Generally placed on the roof of the home because of exposure to sunlight, solar panels use Photovoltaic cells that absorb photons from sunlight. This then creates an electric field and that electricity can be used or harvested for later use.
Although solar panels are the best way to use solar energy to power your home, there are other ways to use solar energy that have a lower barrier to entry. For example, solar water heaters work in much the same way as solar panelsbut are less expensive to install than full solar panel systems. For the purposes of this article, however, the pros and cons of solar power will be based on solar panels.
What Can You Power With A Single Solar Panel
In the example above, the solar panel is producing 1.5 kWh per day, which ends up being about 45 kWh per month. Thats enough energy to power some small appliances without too much issue, but if you want to cover the energy used by your propertys climate control systems or large cooking appliances, youll need more solar panels. Check out our article on how many solar panels you need for your home to better understand how much solar energy your unique property needs.
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What Is Solar Hot Water
Solar water heating systems, or solar thermal systems, use energy from the sun to warm water for storage in a hot water cylinder or thermal store. Because the amount of available solar energy varies throughout the year, a solar water heating system wont provide 100% of the hot water required throughout the year. A conventional boiler or immersion heater is normally used to make up the difference.
Larger solar hot water arrays can also be arranged to provide some contribution to heating your home. However, the amount of heat provided is generally very small , so it is not usually considered worthwhile.
Most solar hot water systems are just designed to provide the hot water you use for bathing, showering and hot taps.
Who Do I Contact If My Solar System Is Not Working
If you have received permission to operate from your utility company, you would contact the Customer Solutions team. If you have not received permission to operate , contact your Concierge. Both teams can be reached at 833-423-1132. Option 2 will route you to the Customer Experience – for a quicker connection select option 8 and enter the extension of your assigned concierge.
*Based on source material from:
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Local Utility Prices And Policies
The higher the local energy prices, the more dramatic the savings from solar panels. A solar system will pay for itself far faster in an area with cloudy skies and high prices than in an area with sunny weather and low energy prices.
The other local policy that has a big impact on solar systems is net metering. With this technology, when a home has excess energy from solar panels, it can feed that excess back into the local power grid. The utility will actually pay the homeowner for consumed power. So excess energy isnt wasted, and your investment will pay for itself faster.
If you dont have net metering in your local market, consider investing in battery storage to provide backup coverage. Batteries are becoming more and more sophisticated, says Barnes.
Why Are My Electric Bills Higher Than Expected
To get an accurate analysis of your bill, we require at least 12 months of post-solar install usage. Our estimates are based, in part, on annual average solar production, so we really need to see a full year to get a complete picture. Also, often utility companies may add additional fees when a customer decides to go solar. Lastly, anytime you have a lifestyle or energy consumption change, you may see an increase.
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