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May 07 2018
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Everything You Need to Know About Solar Carports

By Charging Your EV With Solar Panels No Comments

 

The increasing adoption rate of solar technology has led to both surprising innovations as well as obvious and practical applications. One such application of solar technology is found in solar carports.

Solar carports are an offshoot of traditional carports, which provide shade and protection for your vehicle. Typical carports are much different from solar carports however and call for different hardware and installations.

Solar carports use similar equipment as ground-mounted solar panel systems and therefore require a similar installation process as well. Here is everything that you need to know about solar carports.

What Are Solar Carports?

What makes solar carports unique is that they do not require a roof or surface that the solar panels must attach to.

This is different from installing solar panels on an existing carport which already has a built-in roof. Solar carports are customized to include solar panels in their structure. The panels themselves serve as a dual-purpose solution for both covering the owner’s vehicle and for producing clean energy.

Solar carports are essentially taller ground-mounted solar panels. They are simply lifted high enough so that a vehicle can fit below.

The Benefits of Solar Carports

The primary benefit of having a solar carport is that it gives you flexibility in the way that you can customize your solar project. When installing solar panels on a rooftop, there are many variables that may limit where the panels are placed.

A ground-based system can be built anywhere and to any specifications. Your rooftop may not be able to support 100% of the solar panels that you want to install, so having a solar carport can open up this opportunity to any property owner.

The direction of your solar panels and the angle at which they are placed has a large impact on the amount of energy being produced. A solar carport can be structured to optimize the positioning of your solar panels, whereas this may not be as simple for a rooftop solar panel system.

Among these benefits, a solar carport can also be easily integrated with a home battery or electric vehicle (EV) charging port.

The electricity being produced by your solar carport is just like any other solar energy — it can be used in your home, stored in a battery, exchanged for credits in the grid, or funneled into your EV battery. Overall, a solar carport gives you a significant amount of flexibility over how you use your solar energy.

Commercial and Public Solar Carports

Solar carports are also found commonly throughout cities across the nation in the parking lots of commercial and other public or private entities. Whether it is a corporation, recreation center, high school, church, or basketball stadium, parking lots all over are being converted into large-scale solar carports.

The way that these organizations view a solar carport is that it is an investment in their future electricity savings. The available real estate in a parking lot is a perfect fit for adding solar panels to a business or other organization. It brings value for both the organization and its members.

In fact, Intel installed two of the largest solar carports in the country at both their Folsom California campus and their Chandler Ocotillo campus. The California carport generates a total of 8.7 megawatts (MW) of electricity, and the Chandler carport generates approximately 7.7 megawatts of electricity and includes 30,000 solar panels. The majority of large corporations that operate in states where solar is viable are following this trend and installing their own solar carports.

Public and private solar carports for organizations like businesses and nonprofits bring two main benefits: 1) They save the organization money through their energy production, and 2) They can direct excess funds from these savings into other relevant solutions like EV chargers in their parking lots.

Organizations that have both a solar carport and integrated EV charging ports are especially sought out by members who own electric vehicles, due to the money that they can save from its use.

A Practical Solution

Solar carports are a very viable and straightforward solution that can benefit anyone looking to go solar. They are simple structures that serve as a cover for vehicles and as a source of solar energy production.

The simplicity of solar carports is evident when considering their basic form of just solar panels and a ground mounting system. This differs from the traditional carport in that it does not include a roof surface. At the end of the day, a solar carport is a great option for individuals who want more flexibility in how they set up their solar project.

May 02 2018
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Tesla Powerwall 2 – 2018 Buyers Update

By Tesla Powerwall No Comments


Tesla’s Powerwall 2 is perhaps the most famous solar backup battery option, though it is not the highest volume sold. Tied to celebrity tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, the first Powerwall was announced in 2015 and the Powerwall 2.0 a year later.

Does it measure up to the buzz? Both Powerwalls were met with enthusiasm, and with mixed reviews from customers.

Some customers experienced Powerwall 1 fan noise as loud as a garbage disposal in the initial rollout. Tesla promptly fixed that with a firmware update and no further complaints have surfaced on this point.

Looking for competitive pricing on home battery systems? Our marketplace provides you with the best options for your area. >>

Tesla Powerwall 2 – Warranty Issues?

One of the major drawbacks for Tesla’s battery in 2016 was a somewhat vague warranty. The parameters guaranteed the unit would be “free of defects” for 10 years or unlimited cycles—which sounds good but did not include “normal wear and tear,” which natural battery degradation could fall under. This left buyers feeling insecure about the longevity of their investment.

It seems that enough people mentioned this oversight, however, as Tesla’s more recent warranty update does include maintaining an output rate of 70% at 10 years. This matches assurance from other industry leaders such as Sonnen and exceeds LG, which only offers 60%.

All These Parts: The New Powerwall Is More Integrated

Another Powerwall update is the integration of the AC inverter into the battery. Early Powerwall models and competitors, such as Sonnen and LG, required a separate DC inverter to use power from the grid or solar. The Powerwall 2 inverter is now part of the package, eliminating the need for a separate hybrid inverter.

This makes for a more compact system that’s theoretically easier to install, with fewer parts to cover by separate warranties.

Time-Of-Use Rates and Tesla Powerwall 2

While incentives and rebates can mitigate the cost of solar investment, some markets still can’t justify the cost. Net metering is an option in most states, which allows customers to send any excess power generated from solar back to the grid. They are compensated for these contributions throughout varying policies across municipalities.

Alongside net metering, time-of-use rates are being adopted by utilities, making the economics for battery storage more viable. An automatic load shifting firmware update is due for the Powerwall 2 in 2018, though this deadline has already been pushed back before. This will allow the Powerwall to automatically detect when it’s time to pull power from the battery, thereby avoiding grid rates when they’re most expensive.

Customer Experiences with the Tesla Powerwall 2

There may have been (and still could be) interruptions and delays in Powerwall 2 installations. Tesla forums show some people still frustrated at spending endless months on the waitlist with little response from customer service.

This is characteristic of a company spreading itself thinly across several facets of the industry. Whether this all-in-everywhere approach will eventually pay off is yet to be seen. But it seems that overall, once a customer finally gets their sleek new Powerwall 2 unit home, the experience is a good one.

To satisfy your curiosity about the system in action, check out these videos from a Powerwall 2 customer in Australia. They’re first-person POV clips of his recently installed Tesla backup system. He sets up various situations in different weather conditions to show how the battery responds.

Boris Feldman is our own Solar.com customer who had a Tesla Powerwall 2 installed at home. Here’s what he had to say about his experience with his new backup battery.

“The Powerwall 2 is a really cool piece of technology that allows me to have total control of our household electrical usage. It’s a sleek design, and the mobile app is incredibly intuitive.”

You can visit his website at www.baseenergy.net.

All in all, most customers seem to report that the Powerwall 2 works as advertised and has intuitive monitoring software that’s fun to use.

You can read more about the technicalities of home solar batteries here. If you have any questions about the Powerwall or solar storage in general, feel free to call our energy advisors at 888-454-9979.