Odete in Leonardo has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since December of 2013. The standby generator was commissioned in February 2014 and the solar array eighteen months after that.
A 17 kW machine in February 2014
The machine is a Generac 17 kW, model 6243, delivering 16 kW on natural gas, which is what this house runs on, behind a 200-amp service-rated transfer switch with two power management modules.
The house is 2,672 square feet and its electrical calculation comes to 15,734 watts. Three thousand watts of air conditioning is managed while the generator is running, leaving 12,734 to hold — comfortably inside what the machine delivers, and well above the 13 kW the code calculation sets as a floor.
It was last serviced on 17 February 2026, which is twelve years after it was commissioned and the more useful of the two facts.
32 panels in September 2015
Thirty-two LG 300-watt panels, 9.6 kW in total, on QuickMount rails with an Enphase M250 microinverter behind each one. Estimated first-year production is 10,556 kWh and the utility is JCP&L.
Two problems, in the order they arrived
Most households on this site bought solar first and backup power later. This one went the other way round, and the sequence is worth drawing out because it makes the distinction between the two systems unusually clear.
In 2013 the question was reliability. The electrical service to this house comes in overhead, which is the arrangement most exposed to weather — a limb on the drop, ice on a span, a pole down two streets away — and the answer to that question is a machine that starts on its own when the supply stops. Solar would have been no answer at all: a grid-tied array disconnects the instant the utility fails, and has to, so that it cannot energise a line a crew is working on.
Eighteen months later the question was different. It was not about outages; it was about how much electricity this household buys from the grid across an ordinary year, and whether some of it could be produced on the roof instead. A generator has nothing to say about that either — it burns gas, it runs a few dozen hours a year, and it makes no difference whatsoever to an ordinary bill.
Two questions, eighteen months apart, with no overlap between them and no substitute available in either direction. What the household ended up with was not one system extended but two systems doing entirely separate work — which is what they were both bought for.
Why Leonardo homeowners choose Green Sun Energy Services
More than solar panels: a professionally managed energy system, from design and permitting through installation, inspection, activation and ongoing support.
Complete backup power, from sizing and installation to the service that keeps it ready.
What makes Green Sun Energy Services different
- Solar: design and installation supervised by a NABCEP-certified professional (#PVA-111016-016148), with Enphase microinverters on every panel so each one reports its own output. On this home: a 9.6 kW solar array of 32 LG panels, a EnPhase M250-60-2LL-S22 Micro-Single inverter, the QuickMount mounting system.
- Standby generators: installed and serviced as a Generac Authorized Sales and Service Dealer, by factory-authorized Generac technicians. On this home: a Generac standby generator (17 kW LP / 16 kW NG) running on natural gas, on a 200-amp transfer switch (managed whole house) and serviced by Green Sun Energy Services.
- Warranty: backed by a 5-year solar workmanship warranty and a 5-year generator workmanship warranty.
- Local: locally owned and operated in New Jersey since 2010, NJHIC licensed (#13VH06229000), with 138 completed solar projects and 436 completed standby generator projects across Monmouth County and 360 solar projects and 612 standby generator projects throughout New Jersey.
Our work in Leonardo
Green Sun Energy Services has completed 2 featured solar projects, 6 standby generator installations and 10 generator service customers in Leonardo. Leonardo, a community in Middletown Township, on Sandy Hook Bay, is served by JCP&L.
Generate electricity on your roof and use it to help power your vehicle.
Thinking about solar, a standby generator, or both for your Leonardo home? Tell us about your project here or call 732-410-7818.
Power it. Protect it. Maintain it.
Project Facts
- Location
- Leonardo, NJ
- Services
- Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- December 2013
Solar
- Panels
- LG Model # 300N1C-G3/35mm
- Panels
- 32
- System size
- 9.60 kW
- Inverter
- EnPhase M250-60-2LL-S22 Micro-Single
- Mounting system
- QuickMount
- Estimated first-year production
- 10,556 kWh
- Share of the home's electricity
- 73%
- Electric utility
- JCP&L
- Workmanship warranty
- 5 years
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 6243
- Rated output
- 17 kW LP / 16 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 2,672 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
- Workmanship warranty
- 5 years
Questions from Leonardo homeowners
SolarWhat does solar offset mean?
It compares the array's estimated annual production with the home's expected annual consumption. A house using 12,000 kWh a year with a system expected to generate 11,400 kWh has a 95 percent offset. It is an annual energy comparison, not a promise that solar supplies 95 percent of the electricity in any given hour.
SolarWhat is net metering?
It lets an eligible New Jersey solar customer receive kWh credit for eligible excess solar electricity exported to the grid, up to the amount consumed over the applicable annualised period. The utility meter tracks energy delivered to the property and energy received from it.
Standby generatorDoes new gas piping have to be pressure tested in Leonardo?
Yes. Gas piping subject to the adopted fuel-gas code must be inspected and tested before it is accepted. New Jersey adopts the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, which governs the inspection, the test pressure and how long the test has to hold.
Standby generatorHow can a whole house be carried on a smaller electrical service?
Through load management. One or more large loads are controlled so they do not start at the same moment, or shut down briefly if generator demand climbs too high. That is what allows whole-house coverage where the raw sum of every connected load would otherwise exceed the machine.
Standby generatorHow often should a standby generator be serviced?
Maintenance follows the schedule for the exact model and its operating hours. For current air-cooled units that means an annual inspection plus scheduled work at hour-and-year intervals. Extended running during a long outage can bring the next service forward.