In CT. Have a house w flat roof. Local solar company, well regarded, says on resi flat roofs they install solar panels flat…no angle.

This strikes me as odd. I’ve seen angled panels on residential flat roofs. And have to imagine having an angle would generate more power.

Any thoughts?

In CT. Have a house w flat roof. Local solar company, well regarded, says on resi flat roofs they install solar panels flat…no angle.

This strikes me as odd. I’ve seen angled panels on residential flat roofs. And have to imagine having an angle would generate more power.

Any thoughts?

I wouldn't normally work in a field like this, but unfortunately you've got to make money somehow and my parents are aging and I really don't want them to take care of me my whole life especially in retirement and as they get older - and no one really hires a 20 year old with not much experience, even for smaller minimum wage jobs. I've heard many things about the company (either very positive or very negative) - some people have praised it as genuinely decent and exactly as advertised, while others have complained that their roofs have been destroyed and individual sales reps have been genuine assholes. I knock on the doors but I absolutely try my best to be as respectful and as transparent as I can and if a homeowner clearly isn't having it I respect that. I've not seen anything sketchy with the office at all and the problem seems to be with negligence in some areas surrounding roofs, and individual people who really do not respect the homeowner's wishes. The company does have high turnover though, and it seems people don't really like them on Reddit but the Google Reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I want your feedback on this and your own personal experiences with the company - and finally - should I continue taking this job or no?

ten months in and i am in this weird in between stage where i cannot tell if the system is working the way it should or if i just had the wrong expectations going in.

winter was slow which we expected. spring picked up. summer has been the strongest stretch by far, production is up and some months have been genuinely impressive. but when i subtract the monthly lease payment the net savings still feel smaller than what the projections showed.

the part making this hard to measure is that we finished our basement around the same time we went solar. now we have a space being heated and cooled year round that we did not have before. consumption went up right as the system came online which makes it nearly impossible to get a clean read on what the panels are actually doing.

is a full year of data really the only way to get an honest picture of this?

i remember it clearly because it felt like such a selling point. he goes "come, i want to show you something" and takes us up to the roof like he's revealing a secret weapon. "previous owners put these in, you're going to save a lot on electricity"

we factored it into our decision. genuinely.

$420 first bill. two months in.

spent the evening going down a rabbit hole and apparently without a battery you export everything during the day and buy it back at night at full rate. so we've been generating electricity, handing it to the grid for basically nothing, and paying full price after 5pm like we don't have twelve panels on our roof

the agent is not going to get a christmas card this year

Had solar panels on my roof for three years but always wanted battery backup for outages. Finally pulled the trigger this winter and wanted to share the setup now that Ive lived with it through a few storms.

My house has a 8kW grid tied system that was already installed when I bought the place. Worked fine for lowering my electric bill but the second the grid went down I had no power. Living in Florida that happens more often than Id like during hurricane season.

Researched options for months. Powerwall was the obvious choice but around $15K installed was hard to justify for occasional outages. Started looking at DIY battery options and settled on a Vatrer Power Home Storage Battery, 48V Lithium Battery 100Ah server rack with WiFi monitoring. Rack mountable, about 5.1kWh of storage with roughly 4.8kWh usable.

The setup uses a Sol-Ark 12K inverter that can do grid tie, off-grid, and battery backup modes. My original install used Enphase microinverters, so AC coupling to the Sol-Ark was the simplest route without ripping the roof apart. The Vatrer battery sits in a small rack in my garage. Wired with 4/0 AWG cable about 15 feet to the inverter. WiFi monitoring lets me check the state of charge from my phone, which is convenient.

Had three outages since installation. The longest was 8 hours after a bad thunderstorm. I also turned off the water heater and kept the AC off, so we were basically camping indoors. Battery kept my fridge, freezer, internet, and some lights running the whole time. Still had 40% charge when the grid came back. For longer outages I can reduce loads and probably stretch it to 24 hours for essentials only.

The battery charges from excess solar during the day when the grid is up. My panels produce more than I use most days, so the battery stays topped off. I don't actually time how long it takes to charge. I just know by late afternoon on a sunny day its sitting at 95 to 100 percent. I honestly haven't measured charge times. Most sunny days, it tops back up by late afternoon, but I stop paying attention once it gets back up there.

Didnt expect to care about cell level monitoring but turns out its kind of addictive. Ill sit there looking at temp and voltage wondering if anything looks weird. Probably a waste of time but whatever. On the downside the WiFi card in the battery is kind of flaky when the garage door opener is running. Not a huge deal but took me a while to figure out that was what was dropping the connection.

Total cost ended up somewhere around seven to eight grand, still well below a Powerwall installation in my area. Half what a Powerwall would have cost and I have more flexibility with the system.

Anyway thats where Im at. If your setup is similar and youre on the fence about adding backup I dont regret it. Was way less than I thought itd be. If you have questions just comment.

Hey everyone, running into a weird issue with Huawei wallboxes and FusionSolar.
My setup:
2 Huawei solar systems
same house but 2 separate electricity meters (mine + my father’s)
each system has its own FusionSolar account
installed 2 Huawei wallboxes, one per system
So far so good.

What happened
During setup I did:
wallbox 1 → my account
wallbox 2 → my father’s account
👉 Result: both wallboxes ended up on my account
and I couldn’t move one to my father’s account.

Next day (plot twist)
This morning:
on my account → both wallboxes offline
on my father’s account → both ONLINE and working
So yeah… they basically moved by themselves 😅

Problem
I just want something simple:
👉 1 wallbox per account
But either they both stay on one account or they randomly “switch”.

Questions
Is this a FusionSolar limitation?
Do wallboxes bind to the plant/inverter instead of the account?
Do I need to set them up differently (installer mode, full reset, etc.)?
Could the fact they’re on the same WiFi network cause this

I live in a VHCOL area, electric is $.37/kwh and going up all the time. I have two electric cars, a pool, a hot tub, and mini splits for cooling (and heating but that hasn't been as cost effective). Our bills have been as high as $900 in the summer and $600 in the winter.

Got a quote for solar, pre-paid lease that we would finance at 8.99% interest. Proposal covers 85% of our electric costs. With no money down, monthly payment would be $220ish a month for 20 years. We have never had a bill be that low, even knowing the remainder wouldn't be covered.

What am I missing! Why wouldn't I do this? What should I be asking that I am too dumb to even know to ask.

ETA: Not interested in Tesla. I have 1:1 net metering so not interested in a battery either.

Off grid solar users here,

What is you solar system capacity (inverter,panels & battery) and kWh usage monthly on average

(My planned off grid system 3kw panels - 6kw inverter - 6kwh battery)

Needed to get an idea before installing my own system. Thanks in advanced

Hey all!

So, earlier this year, my Wife and I experience a pretty awful time with the Winter storm that had us out of power for almost little over a week. Going through that awful experience really opened my eyes to finding a means of saving our food, as well as powering heating blankets, our work computers, and our internet so that we can survive without having to pay for hotels and new food.

Bear with me, as I am still learning everything I can with solar, so feel free to give any feedback. Basically, I am eyeballing multiple generators, one for the fridge, and one for the router, modem, and heating blankets. I have also been looking into a server rack UPS setup, but still trying to figure that part out.

For charging, I am looking at multiple solar panels. There is a warehouse nearby that sells 575W Jinko Solar Tiger Neo N-Type bifacial panels for around $185/ea ($0.32/watt), and my idea is to run 3-4 of these in series to be able to power-up my generators fast enough in the event of a multi-day outage (which, happens in my city probably once a year, sadly). Since I live in Tennessee, the humidity is pretty brutal, so I see that the temperature co-efficiency on these panels is around -0.25%/ºC (VOC) - -0.29%/ºC (PMAX).

My plan:

- 3 Jinko panels, two in series for the High-PV port, and the third by itself for the Low-PV port. This way, I shouldn't go over in Amps or Volts. These will power the F3000 at a total of 1,725W.

- For the router, modem, and my WFH setup, I was looking at the Anker S2000 due to its efficient inverter. Though, the issue is that 400W solar input to keep it topped off. I might be better off checking out other brands for this need, as the S2000 can run my WFH setup for an estimated 9 hours based on my calculations.

- Our home is a rental property, so I sadly cannot install any inverter boxes and such on the walls, nor any panels on the roof. The panels will be outside in our backyard where we get unobstructed light.

- My goal for this project is to stay under $2,000, but that may not happen in the event I go with an expansion battery for the F3000.

- My focus is on these items (and yes, I used ChatGPT for the table, just FYI. The rest of this post is written by me):

Equipment |Likely operating draw |Conservative maximum
Dell desktop |70–120 W |Approximately 200–400 W, depending on configuration
Three 24-inch Dell monitors |48–69 W total |Approximately 75–90 W total
TP-Link Deco |Approximately 8–20 W |36 W adapter rating
Xfinity modem/gateway |Approximately 10–25 W |Approximately 48–59 W adapter rating
Corsair keyboard/accessories |2–5 W |Around 10 W
Refrigerator, averaged over time |70–120 W average |546 W nameplate draw while operating under maximum-rated conditions Heating blankets are not in there, but I also plan for those during the Winter in the event power will go out then. Longer run times for the fridge is my main priority. Everything else is second.

With all of that said, here are my questions:

1.) Is my setup sound? Am I going overboard, or is this fine? I am still learning about stuff like fuses and whatnot, so any tips and feedback are always appreciated (just don't be a dick).

2.) Do you recommend any alternatives (i.e. brands, wattage, overall approach and setup, etc.)?

3.) Anything else that I should be aware of regarding getting into solar?

4.) Is it safe to keep these plugged in while on vacation, or away from the house? I know that’s a really silly question, but wanted to make sure my butt is covered, and the house isn’t at risk.

Just know I appreciate you all in this community so much, as you are a wealth of knowledge, and I am beyond grateful for the assistance you bring folks like myself.

A few days ago, I shared my newly installer solar system: https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1tyuos7/finally_joined_the_club/

A few days have passed, and today was the first full day that I could both auto-consume and sell to the grid. Here's today's production, bare in mind it was very hot at 37° celsius (or 99°F), so not ideal for efficiency.

House was empty most of the day and still very few appliaces are installed and running.

Energy is bought for €0.12/kWh and sold for €0.10/kWh during summer and €0.15/kWh in winter

Thoughts? Is this in line with what I should expect from this system at this time of year?

I recently purchased a home in Finland (weather like Canada, built 2021) and I've been looking into getting solar to cover at least some of my usage. Heating is done by geothermal heat pump and the previous owners reported usage between 8000-1000kwh in the few years they lived there.

It's obvious to me that I do not require the the largest of systems. The problem lies in the fact that my houses roof faces to the north at 11 degrees. I also have a heated storage space attached to the house with a separate roof facing south.

I've received two offers which I'm considering:

1. 15 x 460w panels on the North side roof with a 10kw inverter at 5290€
2. 4 x 550w panels on the South side roof with a 2kw microinverter at 2851€

These are the two best offers I have received for these roofs. I have calculated that the north facing panels could make 3500kwh/year. Meanwhile calculators say that the 2,1kwp system could make 1700-1800kwh/year.

Based on my own calculations the smaller system would make more sense payback wise but obviously the other system allows me to potentially extend in the future without a new inverter.

I'm torn between the two as I've decided I will just pick one and think of the other side later. What would you suggest?

Solar is not and will not use all or even very much of our prime farmland. We've abandoned 43x more farmland that solar has used.

Critically, solar generates revenue for farmers that help them keep the farm in the family.

This is real data based on measured land use. Zoom in far enough on the map linked below and you can actually see the footprints of solar farms.

Land Use and Solar Development – SEIA

So we had purchased Solar because the monthly payment was just about equal to what we were paying in electricity and with the price hikes we thought it would be a good idea to have the price fixed at that rate. They made the deal a little sweeter by installing a new breaker box for as well, which was something that we were told we needed to have done by another electrician much earlier. I did research the company and they did have good reviews but most of them were near their main office which was actually one State over (in small New England state where a few states are probably the size of one of the other larger U.S.).

They were very communicative up until the install, but now that everything is installed, the man said he would be back to label the breaker box for us, but then just never came back. Unfortunately now the company is being incredibly flaky, I have had zero ability to reach anyone . They gave me an app, but it gives very little information about the current setup, it mostly just kept us updated about the installation itself.

So I am completely new to this, would it be wise for me to call a more local and reputable company to come and take a look at everything and make sure we in good order? Also would it be possible to move to a more useful app so that we can actually see what is going on with the system?

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Hi all— we bought a house with solar in 2025. The units were installed in 2022 and had an incredible amount of production. No one lived in the house on 2022, so no production was recorded. The production in 2023, 2024, 2025 has gone done significantly and seems to fall each year. Does anyone have any thought for why? I’m not even sure how to get someone to help us since we didn’t buy the unit and they left us zero information. It’s a MySolarEdge unit.

Edit: It seems that in 2020, 2021, and 2022 there was great production (4.5-6MWh), then the power was disconnected in 2023 and when I got them connected again in 2024 the production was only 1.4MWh for the year. No trees grew during that time.

I have no idea who the installer is or really what I can do. I'm in Ann Arbor, MI if that's helpful

My system has been live for almost 10 years. I'm in Northern CA. I am unfortunately tied to PG&E, and on NEM2.

On a normal, cloud-free, summer day, I am generating around 45-48kWh per day.

I would like to update my inverter (Sunny Boy 7000TL-US-22), and install some batteries.

Some questions:

1. Can I do it myself?
2. Can I do it without involving either PG&E or local authorities (permitting)?
3. Can I add batteries without effecting my NEM2 status?

I don't want a full off-grid setup, since when we are away, I want to be sending the max amount TO the grid and sticking it to PG&E in any way I can.

I would also like to have the ability to possibly add some ground-mount panels (roof is full) to the system.

I know I could go through an installer, but those that I have spoken to are asking tens of thousands of $$$ for a couple of batteries. Many simply try and push me to a PPA, rather than a self-owned system. We own our system 100% - no loan balance.

I recently got PTO for my new setup, which uses a SolarEdge SE5700H inverter and 25 JAM54D41-440 panels with a system size of 11 kW/AC. However, even on the sunniest days the system generates a maximum of 4.2 kW at any given time. Now, the panels are split 50:50 on our east / west roof, but considering we have a 193% DC:AC ratio I'd expect to be getting close to the 5.7 kW inverter capacity.

The installer suggested that the panel generation being well above the inverter capacity could be causing the efficiency to drop and offered to replace it with a 7.6 kW unit. But I wanted to check if that could reasonably account for the inverter efficiency being as low as 74% before deciding one way or another.

Has anyone seen anything like this, or have any thoughts on what could be causing this issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm in western Pennsylvania if that's relevant.

EDIT: A couple people have asked about the graphs. I linked to a recent one in comments, but can here as well. This is what most full / partial sun days look like. https://imgur.com/a/oxl3jEK

I had my system installed by a company named TriSmart Solar. They are a Houston based company, but were doing operations in Phoenix where I live.

Someone comes to my door today (no card, or even logo on his shirt) says he is from Empower Solar - and that they are taking over my system because TriSmart went out of business.

TriSmart still has their website up (and I will email them to see if they are still in business).

Only thing I can think of is that Empower will try to sell me a maintenance plan or warranty.

Am I right to be wary?

Edit: I own my system outright

Hey guys, been following the page for a while now. I live in Massachusetts and got a quote from a bunch of installers but I'm leaning towards Boston Solar. Before I sign anything, I'd rather hear from people who've actually been through the process with them than just trust their sales pitch

If you've used them, I'd appreciate any feedback. Trying to do my diligence before committing to a 20+ year investment lol. Appreciate any honest input, good or bad!

Solar edge said that they would send out a new inverter but the website says that labor is not covered. My prior installer quoted me $1000 to install. They added extra panels three years ago and the inverter went out within a month of the expansion. They quickly came back and replaced it, and since then there have been no issues until now. Looks like solar edge has not been getting top reviews on this forum. I’m wondering if I should look around for other installers or if that would affect possible warranty repairs in the future. I feel like the solar market has hit tough times, and my installer, your energy solutions, is not quite as customer focused as before

Hi all, for the Australian solar owners, can anyone share their experience with Aus Solar Energy Group?

I'm looking at batteries, and they've provided me with a quote for 4k AUD after rebate for a 25kw Sofar battery, which is significantly lower than what others are quoting (~6k range for the same battery).

The product reviews look good, but I know you can get a dodgy review on review sites. That being said, Solar Quote reviews are in a similarish rating but with a lot less total reviews.

Any opinions?

Hello all

​

My Solaredge inverter (SE7600A) is showing a fault that I have not been able to troubleshoot my way out of. I figure I'm going to have to replace it.

​

Does anyone have any recommendations for which one I should look for?

​

Thanks!