Finding a Quality Solar Contractor

Solar power is increasingly attractive to home and business owners for many reasons. The price of energy purchased from local utilities continues to rise, interest rates for solar investments are favorable, state and federal incentives exist to make solar investment more affordable, prices for many types of solar arrays have dropped by 30% since 2010, and many parts of the country have weather that makes them well-suited for harnessing solar energy.

Getting started on the path to solar power can be daunting, though, because few outside of the solar industry understand what’s involved with buying, installing and operating a solar power array. Finding a reliable company to guide you through to process and get your solar array installed can put your mind at ease and help you turn sunlight into money.

Choose the Right Solar Installation Service for Your Project

There are several kinds of solar companies. If you’re interested in harvesting solar energy at your home or business, you’ll want to employ the services of a solar contractor and solar panel installer. Some companies serve a limited range of customers. If you want solar power for your home, select solar companies that serve residential customers. If you want solar for your business, select solar installation companies that serve commercial customers.

A little knowledge about solar power goes a long way and will help you navigate the range of products to find a solar array that fits your needs. Solar power can provide your home or business with electricity, heating and cooling, and hot water. All types of solar arrays can be used to save you money by using the energy of the sunlight shining on your home or business to replace energy you otherwise would purchase from a utility company. Only electricity can be sold to a utility company, so only photovoltaic arrays can earn you a monthly check.

If you want to generate all of your own energy onsite and disconnect yourself from the grid entirely, you’ll need to invest in batteries and a solar array that generates more power than you need during the day. Most people are interested in staying connected to the grid, though, so a smaller, simpler and cheaper array will probably fit your needs. If you aren’t sure what you want from your solar array, you can go forward to the next section and learn more about the types of solar arrays available.

Solar energy is harvested for four basic purposes:

• Natural lighting
• Heating and cooling
• Transforming directly into electricity
• Concentrating for use in steam turbines to make electricity

Using sunlight for natural lighting doesn’t require you to purchase a solar array. However, if you’re in a position to design or remodel your home or business, you would be well advised to take advantage of the sunlight that falls on your building to provide free illumination for the interior. The health and well-being benefits of natural light are widely recognized.

Learn More About Solar Panel Installations and Solar Energy Systems
Solar arrays that capture sunlight’s heat for human use are called solar thermal arrays. Solar thermal can be used to heat water or provide heating and cooling inside your home or business. Active solar thermal systems, which use pumps to move water and transfer heat, are more expensive and complex than passive solar systems, which use the characteristic of hot water rising above cold water to cycle water through the passive array. Though more expensive, active systems have greater lifetime efficiency and are more cost-effective.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar arrays turn sunlight into electricity. This is what many people think of when they hear the term “solar power.” Although PV arrays typically use a layer of silicon protected by a layer of tempered glass to convert light into electricity, PV solar panels also include newer thin film technologies that can be applied to many surfaces in many configurations.

Electricity is the most flexible form of energy in widespread use, so a PV array is potentially the most useful option. You can install a PV array to meet some or all of your electricity needs. Any time you generate more than you need, the extra will automatically be sold to the utility company.

Since the first quarter of 2010, the average cost of a fully installed solar system has dropped by 20 percent, while the average cost of a PV array has dropped by 30 percent. The fact that you can remain connected to the grid means you can install a PV array to generate as much or as little of your own electricity as meets your needs.

One advantage PV arrays have over solar thermal arrays is that they’re very flexible. Electricity can do most of the work in your home or business, from powering appliances and computers to lighting and, as needed, cooking, heating, cooling and warming water. However, electrical resistance heating (think of the red-hot filaments behind a metal grille typically found in portable space heaters) is less efficient than heating with hot water from a solar thermal array. Also, heating water with electricity is inefficient compared to solar thermal and other conventional means like natural gas. If your home or business isn’t already set up for heating and cooling with electricity, making the change will be an additional investment.

When you’re deciding between a solar thermal array and a PV array, you’ll need to do some calculations that will be particular to your home or business. Determine how much of your energy bill is for electricity and how much of it is for hot water, heating, and cooling. All things being equal, you’ll get a bigger benefit from purchasing an array that will provide the same energy as the larger of the two categories. Keep in mind, though, that you can sell extra electricity to the local utility company. You can’t sell extra hot water. Either way, knowing how your energy money is being spent in your home or business will better prepare you for speaking with a solar company.

Once you feel confident that you understand some of the options available for harvesting solar power and some of the considerations involved, you may want to use an online solar investment calculator to give yourself a rough idea of the costs and benefits of a solar investment. One solar investment calculator can be found here. While the investment calculator gives approximate values, using the calculator can help you establish realistic expectations regarding the costs and benefits of a solar investment.

The federal government offers tax credits toward the purchase and installation of PV arrays and solar thermal arrays. These tax credits can be worth up to 30% of the cost of the array. A summary can be found here.