A New Roof and 43 Panels in Monroe Township, NJ

Monroe Township, NJ · Client since February 2019

Gene and Olivia Gershanok have been Green Sun Energy Services clients since February of 2019, when the roof and the solar array were bought on the same day. The roof was finished on 17 March 2019 and the array three weeks later.

4,500 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 carrying a 50-year warranty, aluminum drip edge along 420 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys, and a ridge vent along the peak.

43 panels and 14.4 kW

Forty-three LG 335 watt panels came to 14.4 kW on Ecolibrium Solar mounting, finished on 9 April 2019, running into a SolarEdge SE11400H inverter with an optimizer on every panel. JCP&L is the utility and the first year was designed for about 18,626 kWh.

What that production figure is telling you

Eighteen and a half thousand kilowatt hours from 14.4 kW works out at close to 1,300 kWh for every kilowatt installed, and that number says more about this roof than the panel count does. It is what a well-oriented, largely unshaded face returns in this part of New Jersey. The same array on a roof pointing the wrong way, or under trees, would be modelled a good deal lower — the equipment would be identical and the answer would not be. Orientation is the one variable on a solar job that no amount of hardware can buy back.

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. With forty-three panels that is a substantial job in its own right. Buying the roof and the array together, three weeks apart, meant it never has to be scheduled.

Excellent company, excellent service! We've done a ton of research on solar, so we had lots of questions for every sales rep that stopped by our home. Unfortunately, many sales reps just followed a script and often did not know about the specifics of their equipment. We were willing to spend a little more money if we felt comfortable with the company or the sales rep, but none of the reps impressed us. Until we met Glen. He is one of the owners of the company--friendly and informative and knew all of the technical details that we wanted to know. Green Sun actually offered the best price, so it was a double win for us! Glen spent a lot of time going over things and tweaking our system until we were happy--we had researched many different panels used by different companies, so there were alot of questions on our side. He was very patient with us. After we signed the contract, things moved along quickly. Everything was very upfront and communicated well. Glen kept us constantly updated on when the panels would arrive, the workers, everything. Every contractor that showed up was very professional and neat. We paid after each portion was finished, as they had outlined in the beginning, so there was never any anxiety. The design of their system is very sleek--they move exhaust pipes so the panels line up nicely and the wires are hidden in our attic. It shows thoughtfulness and is extra work on their part to not have unsightly wires exposed to weather. We passed our inspection with flying colors and are very happy. It's been 6 months so far and we are still very happy with our system and with Green Sun's level of service to this day. Highly recommend!