Accurately calculating – Avoided cost of solar from Energy Toolbase on Vimeo. A good starting point for identifying an advantageous solar market is to look at the average retail cost of electricity. For behind-the-meter (BTM) solar projects, high retail electricity prices enable solar project economics to look more attractive. TheRead More

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

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

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

Now that the #TrumpTariffs are in place, we know that utility-scale solar will take a hit. GTM Research is expecting an 11 percent decrease in U.S. solar PV installations over the next five years — 7.6 GW reduction from pre-tariff expectations, 65 percent of which is in utility-scale. But optimismRead More