The things that are important with regard to the purchase of a solar electric system are:

If a salesperson claims they have a panel that will last longer or produce more that 100% of the panels rated energy production, they are misleading you.

for this reason and you pay the price. It is important that your solar company analyze your needs and care enough to present you with the best system and sizing for your family. A properly sized, priced and financed solar system should provide a good positive cash flow with no cash out of pocket for the average families situation in PG & E territory with SMUD areas usually being possible with average bills over $150 month, see #4 below.

b.A very important question is, “How many years has your company been in solar, are your installers in-house, or subcontracted, and are they paid by the job or by the hour?” A dedicated company with many years in solar is more likely to give you a truly quality installation and be there to serve you many years into the future. Companies with in-house and caring installers that are paid by the hour generally result in a much higher quality installation than slam in the job, paid by the job, installations.

c.Optimized systems allow you and the installing company to monitor the system’s performance right down to the individual panel. SolarEdge Inverters with “optimizers” do this and are a popular choice. “Micro-Inverters such as Chilicon and Enphase do this as individual inverters under each panel and therefore do not require a main inverter by your main electric panel. String inverters are not recommended because the “string” only works as well as the worst performing panel in the string and there is no way to know of a panel is not working at its best.

d.Oversized systems, meaning systems larger than you need for the best return on your investment, make the salesperson more money because it is a larger system. Unfortunately, some solar salespeople and companies are only interested in putting the maximum amount of panels on your roof as possible

2.Do I get paid by the Utility Company for Making Electricity?

Generally Utilities require your solar electric system to not produce more power than you use in a year. If you do, the Utility many pay you a much lower wholesale rate for your “Overproduction.” If it is possible that your system may overproduce, you may need to sign a Utility agreement to get paid for this overproduction. Overproduction is not recommended.
As solar electric system produces the most electricity during the sunlight hours, your Utility Company gives you credit for the solar production you do not use during the day. This is called “Net Energy Metering” which is a solar specific billing to provide Kilowatt hour (kWh) credit to you for the value of the electricity your system generates. So over a 12 month period, you pay only for the “net” amount of electricity used from the utility that is over the amount of electricity produced by their solar system. Because you generate all your solar power during the day, when you produce more kWhs of electricity than you consume you will receive a kWh credit to use at another time. So, for example, at night, or when you have high kWh usage, such as your air conditioner, you use those credits instead of being charged by the utility company. When you have used all the kWh credit you will pay for the kWh usage at the normal rate. You will also still pay base monthly transmission, distribution, and meter service charges.

3.Will My Meter Spin Backwards?

4.How Much Will I Save Per Month?

5.PG&E Net Metering 2.0 : California’s new net metering policy and Time of Use (TOU)

6.How Can I Tell If Solar Will Work On My Home?

7.ACR Solar Policy Items To Guide You In The Purchase Of A Solar Electric System:

Tax Advice

30% Federal Rebate, Zero Interest, Zero Payment Loans

It is vital to understand that these loans need to be paid in full before the 6, 12, or 18 months, term runs out. The purpose of this special loan is to give you time to file and get your 30% tax credit back before the term runs out otherwise a higher interest loan will be your responsibility un the 30% until you pay it off. The 70% portion of the loan will have the agreed upon payments start within a month after the installation is finished. Privacy Policy ACR Solar will not share any personal information you provide to us to any other party in any way without your express permission. Express permission includes a signed contract where your information must be used to secure product or financing for the product you contracted for.

Utility Annual “True Up” for Solar PV and System Start-Up At the end of a 12-month period, the Utility will have a true up which takes into account the total electric usage for the year and subtracts the solar contribution which results in a totaled “true-up” bill for the year. Solar Systems are generally designed to provide a percentage of your bill and the difference will be on this bill. ACR Solar advises that you pay the full amount of “A B” on your bill each month to avoid a large bill at the end of the billing year. ACR Solar can take no responsibility for the amount of this “true -up.” The customer is responsible for turning on the system after interconnect. ACR Solar is happy to walk customers through this simple process, or we will do it for you.

Interconnection

Smoke and CO Detectors

To Pass any County or City Inspection, Smoke Detectors are required in all Bedrooms and the Hallway leading to the bedroom. A CO (Carbon Monoxide) Detector is required on each floor. Please assure that they are installed before the County or City Inspection. Let us know if you need help with this. Monitoring:

ACR Solar works to monitors systems it installs on a monthly basis. It is the customer’s responsibility to also monitor their system and monthly bills and alert ACR Solar if they see a problem.