Ease of Use / Ease of Installation
One of my loyal readers, Sarah, posted the following comment in reference to my scheduling update:
You know, the more I read and understand how complicated it is to install solar panels, the less likely it is that I will even consider it for my own home. I firmly believe that we need to develop and use alternate sources of energy, but it ought to be easy to do for non-specialists.
I’m not sure that I agree completely, but here are my thoughts.
First – Ease of Use. Solar electric systems are extremely easy to use. Once they are installed and turned on, they need almost zero maintenance. You should probably check the inverter meters periodically to make sure that they are working and at approximately the right power level, but that’s about it. If something breaks (say, a panel), the part needs to be replaced. Panels have a warranty of 25 years these days and the installation is warrantied (by state requirement in NJ) for 5 years.
Systems that include a battery backup have some extra maintenance for the batteries, and those batteries need to be replaced every few years (I seem to remember 5, but I could be wrong). Sealed batteries don’t need much else – older lead-acid batteries may need to be checked more often.
Second – Ease of Installation. Solar power systems are a bit more complicated than a standard electrical upgrade. In addition to good old 120V AC, you have to contend with DC wiring at higher voltage. There are additional disconnect switches to be installed because you are feeding power into the utility’s network – you could theoretically fry your neighbor’s appliances if something goes horribly wrong.
However, the system itself is no more complicated than, say, satellite TV or a home computer network. Both of those are installed by homeowners everyday, and by pros for people who don’t want to or can’t install them.
I think the problem is that this is new. One of the stories on the New Jersey Clean Energy Program website talks about how there were 18 utility technicians on-site when they started up the system. They all wanted to see the meter turn backwards and know what this system was like (a good thing – they have to work with it). I wouldn’t be surprised if I see a crowd when my system is installed. Another story on that site talks about a self-installation – by a retired history teacher.
Once upon a time, only trained technicians from the phone company (that’s THE phone company) installed phones and phone jacks in your house. Now, almost anybody can do it and you’re expected to buy your own phone and plug it in. Once upon a time, only degreed specialists sitting in air-conditioned rooms with glass windows all the way around used computers – now anybody can boot up and connect to just about anybody else with a computer (and create blogs!).
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Specialization – when something is beginning to be introduced to the world, it is only understood by a small group. Imagine when cell phones first started being used (the brick or bag phones). The technology is so expensive and difficult to install/configure/use that it is limited to a small group. Computers were in this phase in the 50’s and 60’s. “How smart do they have to be to do this?” is the question for this phase.
Common Use – eventually, technology is put into use by “most” people. Cell phones and computers fit into this category now. You can live without it, but you’d rather not. “How do I use this?” is the question for this phase.
Dependency – when common use of technology reaches the point where nearly everybody uses the technology, and when the older alternatives are all but abandoned, we reach the point of dependency. Electricity, indoor plumbing, and even the internal combustion engine have reached this point. Airplanes are probably here, too. The key to recognizing dependency is when you need to fix the technology when it’s broken as opposed to using the older alternative. “How did we ever live without it?” is the question for this phase of technology.
Solar energy (especially in home use) is now on the cusp between Specialization and Common Use. It will become cheaper, easier to use, and more standardized as time goes by. You’ll be able to buy panels, inverters and “wiring kits” off the shelf. New main electrical panels may include one or two plug-type outlets for you to plug your inverters into – as opposed to having to re-wire. The hurdles that you have to cross to install and use solar energy in your home will become standardized, so that the utility inspection will be merged with the local electrical inspector, and the wiring will be so standardized that you can do it yourself.
Thirty years ago, would you have dared to plug a printer into your computer’s CPU? Would you even have those two things?
Latest Update
Both of us just got off the phone with the installer.
Basically, some order in Germany just took 50 MW worth of 185W panels – 6 months supply in one order. Since the Green party is now in power in Germany, there are lots of projects.
The 175W panels (NT-175U1) are identical to the 185W panels, except that they tested 175-184W after manufacturing. In this configuration, we actually end up getting closer to the 7000W limit of our two 3500W inverters than we could get with the 185W panels. Instead of 3 rows of 12, we will have 3 rows of 13 panels on the roof. That will make it a little narrow on the edges (something like 8 inches) but then it will protect more roof surface.
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My installer also agreed to make adjustments to avoid increasing our out of pocket costs, after prompting. I would have liked to see Sharp make the adjustment rather than my installer, but either way is fine – an error or decision that hurt us a little was made that needs to be handled.
So, April 12 is the new install starting date. He still thinks it will take 3 days, but we can do inside work on any rainy days that might occur.
More Problems
I got an e-mail from my installer over the weekend. He states that the permit should be ready by the week of 4/12, and he wants to schedule the install then.
However (there always has to be a however), Sharp has notified him that all 185-watt panels are being diverted to a large job in Germany, and his shipment won’t arrive until May. He’s offering to change to 175-watt panels and fit an extra three on the roof, for an increase in price of $375 out of pocket and increase in total wattage of 225 watts. He thinks that we can make the technical adjustment in the rebate application later.
Personally, I’m a little cranky about this. Cranky with Sharp for taking equipment away from the little guy to give to the big guy elsewhere. Cranky with my installer for either not ordering promptly when I committed, or for finding out at the last minute. I’m also a little worried that the engineering will have to be redone and the permit might get delayed.
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I’ve replied to his e-mail asking him to call me at work this afternoon. We’ll see what he says.
Am I making too much of this? Or is home solar energy really this far from being ready for prime time?
NJ Requires Utilities to use Solar Energy
This press release from the NJ State Board of Public Utilities details an doubling in required use of renewable energy and a new requirement that some of it come from solar power.
Basically, 4 percent of a utility’s power (up from 2 percent) must be from renewable sources. This new rule mandates that 90 megawatts of NJ electric power come from solar energy.
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An article in today’s Trenton Times (couldn’t find it online) talks about how small businesses and households can get a renewable energy credit, which can be sold to a utility to allow them to meet their requirement. This could reduce our project costs, so I’ll be digging to find out more about that and will report more when I have it.
Delays and Weather
If we had hit our original planned date, this would have been the week for the system to be installed.
As it happens, this would have been a bad thing due to weather. Monday was nice, but we had 2 inches of snow followed by rain on Tuesday, continuous flurries Wednesday, and only today is the snow on the roof melting. Overnight tonight, we’re supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow – 1 day before the official start of Spring.
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I guess things do work out for the best sometimes.
Another NJ Solar Customer
Found this today, at the top of Google’s news after searching for “solar energy”.
Days of Solar Energy Dawn Across Area (NJ Express-Times)
These folks are way up in Warren County.
Here’s a quote:
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Winka [director of the NJ Office of Clean Energy] said generating electricity locally is a goal of the power industry. With more local sources, there is less reliance on electrical transmission lines where power is lost due to resistance, Winka said. Local electrical production reduces resistance, increases productivity and reduces costs to consumers, he said.
That fits my reasoning completely – one of the reasons that we’re installing our system is to reduce the load on the electrical infrastructure (a fancy term for the local wires).
Also mentioned in the article is Partners for Environmental Quality, an interfaith religious group committed to getting religious institutions and groups involved in a sustainable environment. These folks have their headquarters just around my corner in Trenton!
Bye-Bye Blog-City, Hello TypePad
With this post, I am moving this blog from Blog-City to TypePad. I am also splitting the blog in two. This blog is the Solar Energy blog – which will concentrate on the installation of solar panels, etc. on our house. The main page for that blog is Smith Electric Company.
I am also creating a personal blog for my thoughts. Since I created the Solar Energy blog a month ago, I’ve had a hard time restraining my posts to the topic. Therefore, the new blog can be found at Mark Time.
The reason that I’m changing is Blog-City’s horrendous upgrade process and their poor customer service throughout. They started the upgrade on 3/2. My blog was completely down until 3/5, and then was up and down sporadically until 3/9. They only restored the ability to upload files and photos today. Throughout, their customer service/downtime notifications ranged from vague to just plain insulting.
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They’ve lost a customer. I’m paying TypePad 10 times more in fees, but I’m getting a much better service.
NOTE: Since this was posted, I’ve moved again. The links above have been updated to the new locations.
Installer/Customer Relations
After last week’s e-mail string, I feel compelled to jot down a few notes on installer/customer relations.
1. Keep in contact – These projects tend to be 3-4 months long, unless there are unusual permit/utility authorization situations. I feel that the installer should contact the customer at least once a month to give status updates. These installers have 50% of our money – they should feel obligated to update us, even if all that they say is “things are still on track.”
2. Schedule Changes – if the estimated schedule changes, the customer should be notified immediately, or at least once a week if the schedule is in flux. In my case, it sounds like the installer’s sub-contracted engineer took longer than expected to complete their work – I shouldn’t have had to ask.
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4. On-site schedule – The customer should be updated with the on-site installation dates at least 2 weeks prior. Customers have lives that need re-arranging and have to have notice to do that.
I’d like to get to the end of this project and be able to give a glowing review of Jersey Solar, LLC. I hope that I can do that at the end. So far, the customer communication has been a little on the light side – hopefully that improves.
More Status Updates
I had an e-mail exchange with my installer earlier this week. My wife had a question or two as well.
He stated that he would be picking up the electrical and construction sealed drawings from his engineer last Friday, and would apply for the permits this week. After an exchange, I determined that installation should be the first or second week of April. That’s not exactly the middle of March as originally anticipated, but I had planned for something like this to happen.
My wife (the engineer) also asked him for a copy of the drawings. She wanted to review them and make corrections (if any) before the permits were applied for (it’s easier to fix it now than it would be after the permit is issued). His reply was that a complete set of plans comes with the installation.
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His e-mails were … a little terse and maybe even testy. Like he didn’t want to be bothered by the customer. I think he needs to work on that.
More when I hear it!
Web Stuff
