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When people think about going solar, they often think of it for residential homes and not commercial businesses. Like homeowners, solar energy can also help commercial building owners reduce their carbon footprint and save money on electricity every month, which can have huge benefits for your business. The good news is that going solar isn’t as hard (or as expensive) as you may think. Get a Return on Your Investment It does cost money to install a solar power system on your business, and because your energy consumption is likely higher than the average home, you will need a larger system than most residential installations. But over time the amount of money you save in operating costs by not paying...
If you are like many consumers today, you are trying to be conscious about how much energy you and your family consume. Whether you’re motivated to lower your total energy costs or reduce your carbon footprint (or both), here are some steps to get started. Step 1: Know Your Numbers You can figure out how much energy you consume monthly by manually calculating it—there are calculators online to help you get an estimate—but for most consumers the easiest way is to consult your monthly energy bill. Not only do power companies put that information on your bill, some also have “comparison charts” to show you how much you use relative to your neighbors. Step 2: Make Energy-Efficient Improvements Some energy-efficient...
If you have a solar system or are planning to install one, you’ll need to decide whether you want a backup solar battery, and if yes, which one to buy. For many solar homes today, the clear choice is the Tesla Powerwall. Here are just a few of the reasons it tops the list of great solar energy battery backups. More Usable Energy The Tesla Powerwall offers users an industry-leading 13.5 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of usable energy, with a total 14 kWh storage capacity. An average home in the U.S. uses about 28 kWh in a given day, which means a Powerwall can likely handle all your electricity needs during hours when the system is not generating energy from sunlight...
It’s the time of year when many people hope for more sunlight (and warmer weather), but just because the sun doesn’t shine as long or the temperature outside is near or below freezing doesn’t mean your solar panels will not work. That’s just one of the misconceptions about solar panels in winter, so here is some information to help you better understand how a solar system works even when it’s cold outside. Do Solar Panels Even Work in the Winter? One of the most common misconceptions is that solar panels stop working when it gets cold, but the opposite is actually true. It’s not the heat from the sun that produces energy; when photons from sunlight hit your solar panel’s...
If you already have a solar system or you are considering getting one installed, there are a few things you should know about basic solar panel maintenance in the winter to keep your system running efficiently and producing energy all year long. Tip: Make Sure Panels are Installed to Avoid Snow Buildup This is less of an ongoing maintenance issue, and more of an issue when you get your panels installed initially. Talk to your solar energy company to make sure they know how much snow you expect in an average year and can angle your panels appropriately so the snow won’t build up and instead will be more likely to slide off, exposing the panels to sunlight even with...
It’s no secret that the air in Utah can get pretty nasty, especially during the winter months. In fact, Salt Lake City ranks 8th in the nation for cities that experience the most days with short-term particle pollution, and Logan is number 11 on the same list. Unfortunately, despite some progress made toward reducing pollution, recent reports from the American Lung Association show a disturbing trend toward worse air quality overall. While there might not be a lot that people can do about the natural geography that creates conditions for weather inversions that trap cold air and pollution in Utah’s valleys, there are things people can do to improve air quality overall. Understanding Harmful Emissions When measuring air quality, the...
Going “off the grid” with your power system and not being tied to a local power utility company has a lot of benefits. Whether your decision to go off-grid is out of necessity (building a home in a place where it’s difficult or prohibitively expensive to get power lines) or out of desire (wanting to be more energy independent), here are some important things to know about off-grid solar system installation. Understanding Your Power Requirements and Habits [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtxjU7ptVtk[/embed] Before going completely off the grid, you need to make sure your solar panel system is built to meet your needs. Building an inadequate system will leave you in the dark—literally—if you don’t have enough power stored and available when you need...
It’s easy to think about solar energy and the benefits during the summer months when the sun is shining from the early morning to late evening hours, and you see energy usage peak with appliances like your air conditioner running all the time. But winter months are actually a great time to make the switch to solar power, and the cold weather doesn’t prevent the team from Intermountain Wind and Solar from installing a residential solar energy system. Solar Energy in Winter [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g9a5HQNZ58[/embed] Since a solar energy system generates power from the sun, it’s tempting to think that you would really only benefit from this during the summer months, when sunlight hours peak. What you may not know is that...
You probably know that solar energy is an environmentally friendly alternative to other common fossil fuel options such as coal, and you have heard that getting solar panels installed on your home can help save you money every month on your power bill. What many people don’t know, though, is just how much you are saving. To calculate that, you need to understand the cost and use of kilowatt-hours. Kilowatt-Hours [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb4cyNwQis[/embed] A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of measurement that describes how much energy is needed to power 1000 watts for one hour. For example, if you have a lightbulb that is 100 watts that you leave on for one hour, that uses 100 watt hours. If you have 10...
Whether you are thinking about a solar system because you want to reduce your personal carbon footprint as an environmentally-friendly step, or you are in the market because you’re tired of paying the high (and ever-changing) rates for electricity from your local power company, solar systems have become a popular choice. The biggest question most people face when they’re ready to put in a solar system is whether or not to install a battery backup with their system. Battery Backups and Grid-Tied Systems [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh3wxKoyI7M[/embed] Before we get into a discussion of pros and cons for battery backup systems, it’s important to define “battery backups” and compare that to the alternative, which is a “grid-tied system”. When batteries are installed with...