Solar Blog

Minimum Requirements of the NEC With PV Systems Don’t let the title of this blog fool you. This is not about how to get by

Selling PV Systems! Educating or Misleading Customers?

Selling has many connotations as well as definitions. These fall into two general categories, educating and misleading the potential customer.

How much energy is lost due to inverter clipping when the power form the PV array far exceeds the inverter output rating? And under what conditions do the losses occur?

Today’s interactive inverters allow high PV to inverter size ratios. An example 7.7kW residential inverter allows a PV array STC input rated up to 12.32kW; that is a 160% oversizing. Some utility scale central inverter design allows up to 200% oversizing of the PV array.

There are many elements involved in achieving this perfect design that is just right for the customer. If you know these elements, it makes the goal very attainable. The first one is to provide the customer with  what they want and need; these two may not be the same and the need may sometimes have to stand in for what they want. Everything else falls under this one heading.

The quantity of new products entering the solar storage sector is growing at a fast pace. That can cause confusion with selecting a system; especially since there are many differences in how they are configured and operate. In this article I am going to break them down into categories and key differences to help simplify the process of selecting the best system for your needs. 

Cable management is difficult with rooftop PV installations because the array is coplanar to the roof and it is difficult to see and access the cables once each module is in installed. There are two major issues that occur with these types of installations.

As far as pure energy goes, it doesn’t get better than solar energy. Photovoltaic (PV) energy technologies are improving and growing at an impressive rate. This industry hopes to be a major source of electrical energy on Earth in the not-too-distant future.

Everyone is feeling the effects of the corona virus, and most people are concerned for their family and friends and anyone affected by COVID-19. It has adversely affected the health of many and the economic position of almost everyone. We understand that many find themselves in a position of reduced income, a surplus of time, and a restricted social agenda.

At first glance I thought this term was describing a dark German beer that had lost its carbonation. I was wrong but it is actually almost as bad. Dunkelflaute translates to “dark doldrums” and refers to a period when there is no sunlight or little wind for renewable energy generation.

Solar contractors and solar customers often find themselves on the adversarial side of utilities when interconnecting PV systems to the electrical grid. Most of the time this is due to a lack of seeing the other’s side and/or understanding of the other’s position.