Featured FAQ: How do you size a solar system?
At SunCommon, we aim to completely replace a home’s electric bill with solar power. To figure out how many panels your home needs, we’ll take a look at your current electric bill and work with you to think through any upcoming changes in your family or to your home that would change your use of electricity – up or down.
One of the best aspects of net metering is that you are able to size your solar system for a whole year of use, instead of day-by-day. On a cloudy or rainy day when the panels are creating less energy, you don’t have to worry about running out of juice and spending the evening navigating by candlelight. As romantic as that may sound, we all have to admit that we are accustomed to a certain quality of life wherein we simply don’t have to worry about having power when we need it. So when it comes time to design your solar system, we thought it would be helpful to put together a list of the factors that we to take into consideration.
How many people live in the house?
Do you have kids who will soon have insatiable appetites to technologies such as laptops and cell phones? Babies on the way?
Are you anticipating any of the following additions?
– Hot Tub
– Electric Car
– An addition
How efficient are your appliances? Do you plan to upgrade them soon? Would you consider switching your hot water heater, refrigerator, stove, etc. to electric?
When you talk to a SunCommon solar evaluator, they will make sure to cover all the bases. If you do anticipate changes, we will work with you to calculate how much additional energy you’ll need to produce and design your solar system accordingly. So if you haven’t yet – head over to our little form and set up your solar evaluation today!
Cheers to Energy!
How does solar work?
Even with all this information about solar, you may be wondering the most basic, how does solar work? I thought it was too cloudy in Vermont to have solar panels? Do I still pay a utility bill? The basics of solar are relatively simple. Find out how solar works by clicking below.
Hi,
Can you publish an article explaining how the power company is calculating the electric bill? Customer charge was for 313 KW.
Next line 239 kw generated.
Then billed for 74kw.
Confusing to me- Total generation of 371kw, received solar incentive for $.06x(371KW)
Why the difference in the two generation numbers?
Thanks,
Bob
P.S. this month’s bill- $2.37
Hi Bob,
Really good question on how to understand the billing, and great suggestion to get a sample bill and explain how it works. GMP is in the process of changing their bill right now so once it’s official I would like to do that.
As for now, my best suggestion is to call GMP directly and ask them to explain your bill. You can call 1-888-835-4672.
Good luck and please keep us updated – especially when you get a nice low bill like that!