John Gleason II has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since March of 2021, when the roof and the solar array were bought on the same day. The roof was finished on 4 June 2021 and the array at the end of the month.
3,200 square feet, stripped to the deck
A single layer of old shingles came off down to the sheathing and left with the dumpster. Deck protection went over the exposed sheathing, then a GAF Timberline HDZ system in Weathered Wood carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 271 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys, and a ridge vent along the peak.
38 panels and 12.92 kW
Thirty-eight Hanwha Q.PEAK DUO G6 panels at 340 watts each came to 12.92 kW on Ecolibrium Solar mounting, finished on 29 June 2021, running into a SolarEdge SE10000H inverter with an optimizer on every panel. Atlantic City Electric is the utility and the first year was designed for about 15,504 kWh, close to 1,200 kWh for every kilowatt installed.
Why the array is larger than the inverter
Nearly 13 kW of panels feed a 10 kW inverter, and that is deliberate rather than a mismatch. A panel reaches its rated output only in cold, bright, clean conditions with the sun square on it, which is a handful of hours a year; for the rest of the time it produces well under its label. Sizing the inverter to the panels’ nameplate would mean paying for capacity that sits idle almost every hour of every day. The arrangement here keeps the inverter working in its efficient range through the middle of the day, across far more of the year, and gives up a little at the very top of the brightest afternoons.
Why the roof went first
An array is bolted to a roof for twenty-five years and more, so shingles near the end of their life underneath one become a second job with a date already on them — panels off, roof on, panels back. Thirty-eight panels is a lot to take down and put back. Doing the roof first, three weeks ahead, meant it never has to happen.
Project Facts
- Location
- Little Egg Harbor, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Panel Installation
- Client since
- March 2021
Solar
- Panels
- Hanwha Model # Q.PEAK DUO BLK-G6 340
- Panels
- 38
- System size
- 12.92 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE10000H-US000NNC2
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 15,504 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 99%
- Electric utility
- Atlantic City Electric
Roof
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 3,200 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Questions from Little Egg Harbor homeowners
SolarWhat should a Little Egg Harbor homeowner look for in a solar company?
One that can design, permit, interconnect, install, commission, monitor and service the system, and explain the structure accurately. That means twelve months of real usage, a realistic production model, correct kW and kWh arithmetic, orientation and shading, structural capacity, the rooftop code requirements, the electrical articles for photovoltaic systems and grid interconnection, rapid shutdown, manufacturer installation instructions, utility interconnection and net metering, incentive registration, roof age and condition, penetration and waterproofing detail, the panel, inverter, mounting and workmanship warranties, monitoring, and service after the installation. The question worth asking is not who quoted least, but which company has designed the best long-term system for the house and will still be able to support it years from now.
RoofingWhat happens if rotten plywood is found during a roof replacement?
Damaged or deteriorated roof sheathing should be replaced so the new roofing system has a solid fastening surface.
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.