Recent Posts

Buying solar can unfortunately be a bit too much like buying a car. By which I mean while it can seem that picking the best item for you can seem very simple (leather or upholstery?), it actually can become very complex (what’s the difference between all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive anyway?). And in fact, solar…  Read the entire post »

Big changes can often elicit confusion and worse, incorrect information. Our move to clean energy as a nation (and planet) is certainly no exception. In fact, it probably is a stellar example of the problem. But let’s focus on the myths surrounding the Solar Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), because where there is money concerned…  Read the entire post »

Taxes may be a dry topic, but if you want to save money with solar, this is a very important post. Please read on. I’ll start at the beginning. Jump ahead if you don’t need answers to the first few questions. And see the glossary of tax terms at the bottom of this post if…  Read the entire post »

So went the famous line from the 1975 movie, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and now so does the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar systems. In short, the Federal Investment Tax Credit for going solar is not dead and gone. Instead, it has merely dropped a bit, whereby the old credit of…  Read the entire post »

We get many enthusiastic calls and emails from people ready to get solar installed on their roofs. Their enthusiasm is exceeded only by their disappointment if we tell them that their projected return isn’t that good because their roof is far less than ideal. How would we know? How could you know? Here are some…  Read the entire post »

9,125 Days of Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Winter Solstice)! We know it’s a tad early, but are you looking for the perfect gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even the Winter Solstice?   We know there are a lot of options, but how about a gift that will keep giving for 25 plus years…  Read the entire post »

As I have often mentioned, the solar installation process can at times be fairly maddening (see The Five Stages of a Solar Installation, Parts 1, 2, and 3).  That’s partially because it is more of a major construction project than initially meets the eye, but mostly because there are so many players involved in the…  Read the entire post »

One of the hottest topics in solar these days is a solar power battery. That is, a battery to shift your solar production to the non-sunny part of the day as well as provide a backup power source for when the grid isn’t working. And if you’ve thought about a solar power battery at all,…  Read the entire post »

As we outlined in an earlier issue/blog, we divide each solar project into five stages; the Sales Stage, then Engineering, Operations, Installation and finally Close Out. In this series we went out of order, so in Part 1 we covered Close Out (the very end) and last month we covered Engineering and Operations. We could…  Read the entire post »

Last month we covered the fifth and final stages of a solar installation, the Closeout Stage, meaning we started at the end. So what are the other four stages?  Well, it all starts with the Sales Stage (what we call the paperwork chase), then Engineering, Operations, and finally Installation.  We’ll cover the Sales and Installation…  Read the entire post »