Akash Patel came to Green Sun Energy Services as a referral and has been a client since May of 2019, when the roof and the solar array were bought on the same day. The roof was finished on 13 July 2019 and the panels went on four days later.
3,000 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 273 feet of rakes, eaves and valleys, and a ridge vent along the peak.
22 panels and 7.04 kW
Twenty-two LG 320 watt panels came to 7.04 kW on Ecolibrium Solar mounting, finished on 17 July 2019, running into a SolarEdge SE6000H inverter with an optimizer on every panel. PSE&G is the utility and the first year was designed for about 9,393 kWh.
A modest array on a very good roof
Seven kilowatts is not a large system by the standards of this site, and 9,393 kWh from it works out at around 1,330 kWh for every kilowatt installed — one of the healthier ratios in the set. That combination is worth understanding, because the instinct when reading solar figures is to compare system sizes. A well-oriented, unshaded roof carrying twenty-two panels will out-produce a poorly oriented one carrying thirty, on identical equipment. The size of an array says how much roof was used; the ratio says how good the roof was.
Four days between the two crews
Roof finished on a Saturday, panels on the Wednesday. That kind of gap only happens when both jobs are sold as one — a single survey, one set of drawings, one inspection schedule, and a roofing crew that already knows where the array is going. An array is bolted down for twenty-five years and more, so shingles at the end of their life underneath one become a second job later. Four days of sequencing removed it, and the panels went onto a roof that was four days old.
Project Facts
- Location
- Fords, NJ
- Services
- Roofing Installation, Solar Panel Installation
- Client since
- May 2019
Solar
- Panels
- LG Model # 320N1K-A5
- Panels
- 22
- System size
- 7.04 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE6000H-US000NNC2
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 9,393 kWh
- Electric utility
- PSE&G
Roof
- System
- GAF Timberline Lifetime Roofing System
- Area replaced
- 3,000 sq ft
- Warranty
- 50 years
Questions from Fords homeowners
RoofingWhat should a Fords homeowner look for in a roofing contractor?
One that treats the roof, its flashings, its ventilation and its drainage as connected parts rather than as shingles with extras. That means the age and condition of the existing roof, the decking, how many layers are on it, the slope, the manufacturer's installation requirements, ice and water protection, underlayment, starter strips, drip edge, valleys, chimney and step flashing, pipe boots, skylights, ridge caps, attic ventilation and soffit intake, low-slope sections, sheathing replacement, the code requirements and permits, which warranties actually apply and what they cover, gutter size, pitch, downspout capacity and discharge, the fascia, gutter protection, whether solar is coming later, protecting the landscaping, the cleanup and proof of insurance. The wrong question is the price per square. The right one is exactly what is being installed, from the deck up, and what written protection stands behind it.
SolarHow long does an inverter last?
It depends on the manufacturer, the design, the environment and the generation of equipment, and it should not be assumed that an inverter lasts as long as the modules. Worth comparing: the product warranty, whether labor is covered, how a replacement is handled, monitoring coverage, and whether the installer will still be servicing that equipment.
SolarWhy is annual offset the number that matters?
Because the value of net metering is strongest where solar production offsets electricity the household would otherwise have bought. Producing substantially more than a year's consumption means the surplus is ultimately treated differently from the credit that offsets consumption.