Your safety and the safety of your community take prime consideration. While our design and installation process operates under this rule, you should be aware of the potential hazard. Each individual panel can provide a more-than lethal amount of electricity if handled improperly. Only trained and qualified professionals should ever attempt to repair, maintain or adjust the system. While connecting wires will be hidden and secured behind the modules or contained inside conduit, they can still pose a danger to adults and children if handled improperly.

The National Electrical Code, which governs these systems, specifies that if the DC conductors pass through the structure that they be in metallic conduit. This step is taken to insure that fire risk from potential faults is reduced. NEC also requires a disconnect switch for both the DC and AC conductors, which furthers protects your structure and your system from any fault.

Diagnostics and repairs should be performed by individuals who have been trained in what to expect from individual system components. Put quite plainly, a solar system is as safe as any other major appliance. Just like a microwave or TV set, you shouldn't disassemble your PV system.

Your system will be nearly autonomous. It will turn itself on when enough sunlight is reaching the panels. It automatically finds the best conversion levels to harvest that light, and then interface with your local grid. All these functions are automatic and don't need constant monitoring. Individual settings can be made and once set, are as automatic as turning on your computer or coffee maker. Should any problem arise, the system will instantaneously turn off and await either a local grid correction or a maintenance call.

The panels we install today should still be at 75% output after 25 years. Panels installed in the 1970's are still producing today.

The rebate and Renewable Energy Credit are based on a 20 year contract.

Yes, actually the contract with Xcel Energy covers this in detail.

Depending on the rules of your HOA, they may ask you to restrict some aspect of your installation. There is no standard here. Legislation passed in 2004, Amendment 37, says that they can not deny your right to put a solar energy system on your roof.

Typically, rooftop systems are secure and due to location as well as the time and effort required to remove them, they remain at low risk.

We work with you to define the system size and operations levels. Once you are satisfied, we submit the required information to your local authorities, draw permits, receive ordered materials and install. Every system is unique and different jurisdictions have varying requirements. Installation may be only a few days, or a few weeks.

The wattage installed depends on the area you have that will allow effective installation of PV. Shading from trees and buildings, as well as the orientation of the structure combine with obstructions on your roof to dictate available area.

This is the single most appealing aspect of the Grid-Tie system type. Your system effectively uses your local grid as the biggest, most efficient battery available. When you use more power than your system is providing, the extra power comes from the grid, and vice versa.

down, your system will automatically disconnect and power-down as well, even if the sun is shining. This is mostly for the safety of the linemen who are attempting to fix the problem.

A backed-up PV system allows you to maintain power when your local grid goes down. Typically only a few household circuits are backed-up, so that if the outage continues into the night or longer, you still have power. The more batteries you opt for, the longer you can maintain power for more circuits.

You system needs a certain level of sunshine to operate. Surprisingly, this level can be reached before the sun even comes up! Cloudy weather will decrease your production. As a rule of thumb, if the sun is up, your panels are producing. It should be noted that shadows caused by objects such as plumbing vents or trees are much sharper than the shadow of a passing cloud. We design your array to minimize the affects of daily shading from trees or other objects.

No, your PV array is designed to compliment your landscaping and environment, not dominate it. While an open field or parking structure is usually optimum, we design your array for your specific needs.

That depends on your desired level of investment. We will provide any service level from maximum lifetime availability to minimal involvement. If the equipment fails due to a warranty covered issue, there is no charge for the service.

The modules typically have a 5 year warranty. The inverter has a 5 year warranty which is upgradeable to 10 years for an additional payment.

Yes, but there will be a charge to do so, as this will require additional labor and materials.

Yes, again this depends on your desired level of investment. You should be aware that the contract with your utility will most likely not change should you upgrade. This means that the utility is not obligated to offer more rebates should your system grow.

Yes, but your contract with your utility will not require any additional rebates for expanding a contracted system. A simple solution would be to add a second separate system at that time, instead of adding to an existing system. A new system would fall under whatever policies are in effect at that time.

As part of the evaluation of your site for the PV, we will look at the condition of your roof. If it has apparent faults or damage, we will recommend repair or replacement as deemed necessary.

The panels are designed for normal weather conditions. That is, they are rated for normal snow-loads, typical summer storms with hail and other conditions like dust and very cold temperatures. Of course, there are always conditions that cannot be protected against, such as extreme weather, vandalism and collision.

This is a question you should discuss with your agent, or company. Most insurance companies at this time treat an array installed to code as a normal electrical addition to your home; neither increasing nor decreasing the risk.

You should inform your agent, as with anything that increases the value of your home. As part of the contract and documentation process, you will be asked to provide a copy of your insurance cover page with the coverage limits.

Depending on how you choose to proceed with the financing of your system, the rebates can add up to half of the total installed cost. The rebate system is dependent on the system size, orientation and geographical location.

Yes, the rebate can be used as payment, but the "Down payment" must be made with pre-rebate funding.

Yes, at this time the tax write-off is 30% of total cost. This is capped at $2,000 for residential systems.

This has actually been addressed by the legislature. The current interpretation is that the value of your home increases by $2.00 for every kilowatt of energy cost avoided. So a 3,000 Watt system should produce about 4,500 kWh each year. That works out to a $9,000 increase in property value.

Depending on your needs and the size of your system, you might net a negative total usage, you might break even or at least have a decreased electrical bill.

Current pricing is from $6.90 to $9.50 per installed watt. Larger systems are more cost effective than smaller systems. Add-ons like remote monitoring, tracking systems and battery back-ups cost more. In the end, system size defines the cost.

We work with many different products to get you the best price value and quality. We search the entire global selection to bring you the best option. Here are some products we regularly use:

Modules:
• Canadian Solar 200 to 240 W
• Evergreen 200, 205, 210
• BP Solar 200 W
• Sanyo 200 W
• Sharp 230 W

Inverters:
• Outback FX and VFX Inverters
• Xantrex GT Inverter
• SMA - 5 kW, 6 kW, & kW Inverter
• Xantrex Inverters 100 kW, 250 kW
• SMA Inverters 250 kW, 500 kW

Calculators:
• PVWATTS Output Calculator
• DSIRE Solar Incentives
• Denvers Climatological Information