Grid-Tie PV Systems are solar electric systems that interface with your utility meter and export your surplus energy back to the power company, thereby spinning your meter backwards.

Solar can be exported to the grid using efficient batteryless inverters that only work when utility power is present.This means that in a power outage the system will not function. If your requirement is for power during an outage then there is an option available where a slightly less efficient inverter is used along with a battery bank.That type of system gives a great level of energy autonomy and can run your house for many days during a blackout. The downside is that the system will cost around 25% more than a batteryless system and be about 20% less efficient.Another option for infrequent blackouts is to install a small generator to run crucial loads, especially if there are 220-volt loads involved.

 There is no one system that applies to every home, each one is individually designed, taking into consideration such things as location, lifestyle, specific requirements, and of course, price. California Solar Solutions can help you determine which system best works for you and handles all the paperwork and permits necessary and  provides you with a turnkey Grid-Tie Solar System.

We are happy to come out and do a site survey for you and review your energy usage to create a bid for a system that will offset your energy consumption. Below is some information will will use ourselves to help in sizing your system. This is shown for reference only and we normally will handle all these calculations for you.

Some site analysis basics

You will need an open, unshaded area on a roof that faces south or west or space in your yard that's more than 15 feet from property lines for possible ground or pole mounting of a solar array ? How big of system needed will depend on your usage.

 Your Usage is determined by looking on your bills or calling the utility company to get  the kilowatt hour usage. Look up and add the kilowatt hours used for 12 months and then divide it by 12 for your monthly average and divide that by 365 for the daily average.  The daily kilowatt hour usage can be divided by the amount of average sunlight received by the solar panels. That number will be 4.5- 5.5 hours depending on exact location.
Santa Cruz Coastal = 4.5 hrs.
Other areas in Santa Cruz = 4.7 hrs
Sunnyvale = 5.1 hrs.

Let's say you used 13 kWh, and lived in Santa Cruz. 13/ 4.5 = 2.88 kW.
2.88 kilowatts or 2880 watts, is the amount of solar generation you will need to match the initial consumption. Since there are losses involved in all phases of the power conversion from sunlight to D.C to A.C, the losses must be factored into the equation.

The percent of inefficiency will average around 30%. That means that for every kilowatt of solar installed, 300 watts will be lost to inefficiencies. That 2880 watts times 130% will mean we need to have around 3744 watts of solar to generate that amount of power.

In many cases it is not necessary to offset 100% of your usage with solar. The most important portion of your utility usage to offset is the "over baseline" portion of the bill. The utlity penalizes you for any usage over baseline amount which is somewhere around 350 kilowatt hours and the penalties increase in multi-tiers. Solar can help get you out of the most expensive tiers, the ones that almost double the cost per kilowatt hour. So in other words if you actually needed a 7 kw solar system to break even, you may find the smaller, less expensive 4 kw system would be the better value by getting you out of the "over baseline" bracket.We can discuss all that with you during the site evaluation.

For more information please call 831-336-8650 or email us at info@calsolarsolutions.com (please cut and paste this address into your email. We don't hyperlink to reduce spam)

We provide a 10-year warranty on our grid-tie systems