Webinar Recording

Clean Energy Credit Union maintains a verified vendor network, evaluating installers on factors like how long they’ve been in business and how they operate, and this is reviewed on an ongoing basis rather than a one-time check. For your own research, get at least three proposals, read reviews across multiple platforms (Google, Yelp, SolarReviews), check references, and see how many permits a company has pulled in your area. Be cautious of “review” sites that let companies pay for top rankings. Local installers who know your area’s permitting office are often a better bet than large national companies, who may not have crews or familiarity in your specific neighborhood.

Panels tend to matter less than you’d think since they have no moving parts. Inverters matter more, and the company behind the installation matters most of all. Common, well-established residential inverter brands include Enphase, SolarEdge, HoyMiles, AP Systems, and Tesla (for string inverters). Be mindful that some online reviewers and influencers are paid by manufacturers, so cross-check sources.

Meter collars are never required, though many utilities allow them and some installers prefer using them since they’re faster and can help you avoid an electrical panel upgrade if your panel doesn’t have room. For plug-in solar specifically, the goal is for it to be plug-and-play, so you shouldn’t need to touch your electric meter or panel at all.

PVWatts is a solid tool for estimating your system’s annual production. Google Sunroof can analyze your specific roof (though it’s not available everywhere). Rewiring America’s calculator helps identify incentives available based on your location. Keep in mind that your actual payback period depends heavily on your utility’s rate structure, whether you have net metering, net billing, or time-of-use rates, so ask any installer you’re considering to confirm they’ve factored your utility’s specific rules into their savings estimate.

It’s possible, which is part of why the industry is still waiting on more approved, safety-certified devices to hit the market. Products that pass testing through nationally recognized labs and meet the National Electric Code will have built-in protections against this. As of this webinar, two microinverters have received UL3700 approval, from AP Systems and Hoymiles.

Yes, particularly worth considering for new construction. These smart panels allow circuit-level consumption monitoring and can dynamically manage power distribution, for example, adjusting how much power goes to an EV charger based on what else is running in your home. They’re expensive to retrofit into an existing home, but a strong option to consider if you’re building new.

Generally, yes. A commonly cited study suggests solar can add around 4% to a home’s value, though this varies by market. Homes with owned solar systems tend to be easier to sell than those with leased or third-party-owned systems, since a lease adds an extra step of transferring the agreement to the new owner. If you’re selling a home with solar, be proactive: tell your realtor and appraiser explicitly about the system, and keep your original system specs, receipts, and warranty information on hand, since appraisers don’t always account for solar automatically.

It all comes down to risk and term length. Auto loans are secured by a car with an active resale market and a short term, so recovery is quick and low risk. Solar loans run much longer, often 10 to 20 years, and don’t have that same easy resale path, so more risk gets priced in. Deposit and loan rates aren’t directly linked either. CDs reflect our cost of funds, while loan rates have to cover losses and costs across the whole portfolio. We’re always working on ways to bring solar costs down, so happy to follow up if you want to dig into options.

It really depends on the program. They all have different incentive structures. Some are upfront and others are a monthly fee and others pay you per kWh depoyed during a VPP event. All of the VPPs that I know of still let you set a reserve amount so your battery doesn’t get below 20-30% and also most batteries have a “storm mode” where they prioritize being full if bad weather is predicted.

In some markets (Texas, for example), the VPP operator subsidizes the cost of your battery in exchange for a share of the value created when your battery is dispatched to help the grid.

If you are connected to the grid, this won’t matter, as your home uses the electrical grid as a gigantic battery. If you are building an off-grid solar system, you’ll need lots of extra solar and batteries, and the company selling you your system, such as Unbound Solar, will have charts to help you size your system.

It depends on where you are located and your system size. Also, in many areas, DIY solar isn’t really legal, so you’d still need an engineer and electrician, and maybe a roofer, to pull your permits and do interconnection. DIY is much easier in areas that are rural with fewer building codes, and off-grid is easier to DIY as well. Check pricing on Signature Solar and Unboard Solar and some others as well for DIY. Installer costs vary depending on the market. Under $1/W is probably possible. I’ve seen $2/W in parts of Florida, Arizona and Texas and over $3/W in Minnesota and Colorado. System size will also affect price per watt. Also all of these prices don’t include storage.

There are lots of great YouTube videos of panels being shot with hail. They aren’t immune to hail damage but most panels have passed some sort of hail test and this should be reflected in their spec sheets.

Both plug-in solar and rooftop solar turn off if the grid goes down. You can use a home battery with both types of solar to keep the power on during an outage.

Most folks don’t clean panels as the rain naturally does this. Areas where you might clean panels are the desert and places with wildfires and possibly low slope roofs. No steps needed for heavy snow, the panels are made to attract the sunlight so they will usually melt off the snow before the rest of the roof. It isn’t really safe to get on a ladder in the snow so we recommend letting the snow and ice melt off naturally.

If your utility offers compatibility, then Sense monitoring may work. Otherwise folks often use Emporia Vue or similar systems.

Sodium batteries aren’t currently available from many companies. Folks in the industry think there may be some residential options in the next year but even then I think it’ll be a specialty product for awhile until they are widely available and all companies get trained on how to install them. I think the timeline is still unclear but would encourage you to do research and see what options are out there.