The two most common approaches to mounting PV arrays on tile roofs are “standoff” posts and tile hooks. Standoff posts tend to be stronger due to their simple column loading design, while tile hooks use a cantilevered loading configuration (think diving board), which deflects under wind and snow loading. ARead More

In our March/April issue, we included a roundup of new technology that could improve a solar company’s customer service capabilities, whether it was through quicker project design, better proposals or advanced monitoring capabilities. Aurora Solar was one company in the roundup, which provides one of the best PV design andRead More

For many opportunistic entrepreneurs, the solar industry is an enticing place to start a business. There is a demand for sales teams and installers to help expand the reach of solar. However, too often, those individuals do not have solid business plans and burn out quickly, doing more harm thanRead More

The main components of a solar system, at this point, have been figured out. Module efficiency is higher than ever, inverters are more reliable and it’s tough to imagine more cost-effective and complete racking systems. So, what’s next? Storage? Sure, that’s coming at some point. Solar + storage + EVRead More

Solar inverter intelligence and monitoring has evolved mightily over the last few years, from silent rows of capacitors to today’s circuit-programmable, WiFi-enabled guardians of PV arrays. These systems sense minute changes in operation and advise system managers of options, in real time, for energy management and O&M (operations and maintenance).Read More

As the story goes, solar system costs came down, which drove up demand. But this story is a bit too simplistic because the price drop and demand rise allowed the solar market to mature. In those years where module, mounting and inverter manufacturers drove down costs, quality increased, better salesRead More

Land in any airport, and the view tells the story. Commercial buildings with fresh paint and no solar panels on them yet. Residential customers may commit to solar for a variety of personal and ethical reasons, but nonresidential property owners tend toward the pragmatic. They make business decisions based onRead More

Bloomington, Ind., isn’t a typical solar energy hub, but homeowner Karim Abdelkader and Alex Jarvis, president of Solar Systems of Indiana, prove that it can be with the right customer and PV solution. The goal for the Abdelkader family was to put panels on both their home and adjacent poolRead More

The U.S. Solar Market Insight Report 2017 Year-in-Review from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) dropped today. Here are the 10 numbers to know. 10.6 GW That’s the new PV capacity in 2017, led by strong growth in the corporate and community solar segments. This is theRead More

Being the No. 1 tracker worldwide according to GTM Research, I will assume you’ve heard of NEXTracker and its decentralized tracker design by now. What you may not know about is the company’s giant leap into the storage arena with two solutions — NX Drive, a standardized battery enclosure systemRead More