Johanna from Red Bank, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since April of 2023. The solar and the charger were ordered within days of each other in the summer of 2023, and the servicing of the generator already at the house moved to Green Sun the following year.
11.34 kW of solar
Twenty-seven REC panels went up in October of 2023, 11.34 kW in total on Snap-N-Rack mounting, with a first-year production estimate of 14,283 kWh. A hundred and ninety-six feet of critter guard was fitted around the array on the same visit, which keeps squirrels and nesting birds out of the gap beneath the panels.
A ChargePoint charger
The charger went in at the end of September of 2023, a week before the panels, on a dedicated 60-amp circuit with a J1772 connector and an estimated 36 miles of range added for every hour of charging. It is a plug-in unit on a NEMA 6-50 outlet rather than a hardwired one, which is the arrangement that lets a charger move house with the car.
The generator
The Generac at the house was installed by another company and is rated 22 kW on propane and 19.5 kW on natural gas, switched by a 100-amp automatic transfer switch. Its servicing moved to Green Sun in August of 2024, so the annual maintenance now runs alongside everything else on the property.
Charging on your own roof
A car is the largest load most houses ever add, and adding one to a house that already generates is what makes the array do more than offset the rest of the house. Sized together, the panels and the charger were specified knowing the car was coming rather than being fitted around it afterwards — and on the days the sun is out, a good share of the charging comes off the roof rather than the grid.
Project Facts
- Location
- Red Bank, NJ
- Services
- EV Charger Installation, Solar Critter Guard, Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- April 2023
Solar
- Panels
- REC Model # 420AA-PURE-R
- System size
- 11.34 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE10000H-USNBBL14 HD Wave Energy Hub
- Mounting system
- Snap-N-Rack
- Estimated first-year production
- 14,283 kWh
- Critter guard fitted
- 196 ft
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 70432
- Rated output
- 22 kW LP / 19.5 kW NG
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 100 amp
EV charger
- Charger
- ChargePoint Model # CPH50-NEMA6-50-L23
- Charging port
- CCS (J1772)
- Circuit breaker
- 60 amp
- Estimated range added per hour
- Estimated Range Per Hour: 36 mi / 58 km
Questions from Red Bank homeowners
Standby generatorCan a generator be installed in a flood zone in Red Bank?
Yes, but the generator and its electrical equipment may need to be elevated or otherwise protected. The installation is evaluated against the property's FEMA flood zone, its Base Flood Elevation and Design Flood Elevation, the municipal flood ordinance, any applicable freeboard, and NJDEP requirements where they apply. It is a property-by-property assessment rather than a rule of thumb.
SolarHow does an optimizer system differ from microinverters?
An optimizer system puts DC power optimizers at the modules and a single central inverter elsewhere; a microinverter system puts a small inverter at each module. Both can provide module-level monitoring and rapid shutdown when properly designed -- they are different architectures rather than one being the upgrade of the other.
EV chargingCan a ChargePoint Home Flex be set lower if the panel is full?
Yes -- that is the point of the adjustable output. A house that cannot carry 48-amp charging might run at 32 amps on a 40-amp circuit, or 24 amps on a 30-amp one, where the load calculation and the installation support it.
EV chargingCan a ChargePoint charger charge a Tesla?
Yes. ChargePoint offers Home Flex with either a J1772 or a NACS connector. The NACS version connects directly to compatible Tesla vehicles, and the J1772 version charges a Tesla through the adapter Tesla supplies.