In 2019, Maine’s Governor Janet Mills addressed the United Nations, laying out a plan for the state to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. When compared to Maine’s sister states that have been working for the last decade to establish renewable energy markets to assist with reaching similar carbon neutrality goals,Read More

While we’ve all been busy figuring out the various ways to comply with NEC 2017 and 2020 rapid system shutdown, NEC 2020 includes another PV system-specific code update that’s arguably more of an everyday potential safety hazard, specifically for children. Highlighted by world-renowned electric code guru Mike Holt in aRead More

On this edition of The Pitch, we look at how applying a carbon additive in traditional flooded lead-acid batteries significantly improves their performance in off-grid solar applications. Here to give us the details is Jeff Myles, marketing manager for Rolls Battery. First we get into the science behind the carbonRead More

Improving the electricity yield in photovoltaic solar energy long has been a game of incremental additions of new technology. Over the past few years, bifacial panel adoption has been tested at a utility scale, and designs have been refined to the point that a high single-digit gain from a single-axis trackerRead More

When Tim Graunke, head of project development at Solar Gain, first encountered the Roof Tech team he knew they would be the right choice for a new job he was about to start. “I was at the 2016 Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco,” he recalled. “We had aRead More

As greater numbers of utility-scale solar projects are built on challenging topography that includes hilly terrain, shrinkage in utility-scale layouts is becoming increasingly common and more problematic. Shrinkage can be best described as the amount the total length of a tracker or fixed-tilt row is shortened in a top downRead More

As part of our 2021 Solar PV Modules Buyer’s Guide, we asked solar PV panel manufacturers what they considered to be common mistakes made in the procurement process by solar installers and EPCs. Here is what they had to say. Peak power vs. production One of the factors that isRead More

I grew up accustomed to planned blackouts infamously known as ‘load-shedding’ in India in the 90s and 2000s. Our utility provided a schedule for planned blackouts for up to 6 hours each day. Thankfully, they broke it into non-sequential 3-hour blocks. To provide power during those times, my father gotRead More

A strong residential solar industry is developed, in part, by quality PV system products and the strong brands behind those products. Solar installation contractors who partner with these companies – via partnership programs or dealer networks – can also reap other ancillary benefits to build a stronger business, from preferredRead More

One of the most common questions asked by PV Installers, as well as customers, is how to properly size and charge a battery bank in places where ambient temperatures may vary considerably throughout the year. Temperature affects battery performance in two ways. The standard capacity rating of a battery isRead More