Hubert in Cranbury has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since September of 2019. The solar array and the standby generator were signed on the same day and both were commissioned on the same day, 15 November 2019.
41 panels, and conduit in the attic
Forty-one Panasonic HIT 325-watt panels, 13.325 kW in total, on Ecolibrium mounting with a SolarEdge SE11400H inverter and an optimizer on every panel. Estimated first-year production is 14,903 kWh and the utility is PSE&G.
The array is split across more than one roof section, and where the panels are separated the wiring between them has to get from one group to the other somehow. On this house it went through the attic. That is worth mentioning because the alternative — running it in conduit across the shingles — is what happens on properties with no accessible attic space, and it is visible from the ground for the life of the system. Where there is room to go inside, the roof stays clean.
Sixteen circuits, not the whole house
This is a 6,300 square foot house on a 400-amp service, and its full electrical calculation comes to 31,272 watts. No residential standby generator covers that.
So this installation does not try. The machine is a Generac 20 kW, model 7038-1, delivering 18 kW on natural gas, and behind it is a 100-amp NEMA-3R transfer switch feeding sixteen dedicated circuits — not a whole-house switch sized to the service. The choice was made deliberately at the design stage rather than discovered afterwards.
It was last serviced on 16 April 2026.
Choosing what matters
A household with a house this size has two honest options for backup power, and only one of them is usually presented.
The first is to cover everything: a machine large enough for 31,272 watts, which on a residential property means commercial-scale equipment, a much bigger gas supply, a considerably larger footprint outside, and an engine running at a small fraction of its capacity every week for the next twenty years.
The second is to decide what actually needs to run and back up exactly that. Sixteen circuits sounds austere against 6,300 square feet until you list what goes on them — the heating, the refrigeration, the water, the lighting and outlets people actually use, the systems that cause damage if they stop. What is left off is the part of a large house that can sit quietly in the dark for two days without anyone being worse off for it.
The second option is smaller, cheaper to run, and does the job. The reason it is offered less often is not that it works less well; it is that it requires a conversation about priorities rather than a number from a chart.
The array, meanwhile, contributes nothing during any of this. A grid-tied system disconnects the moment the utility fails, and must, so that it cannot energise a line a crew is working on.
Project Facts
- Location
- Cranbury, NJ
- Services
- Solar Critter Guard, Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- September 2019
Solar
- Panels
- Panasonic Model # VBHN325KA03
- Panels
- 41
- System size
- 13.33 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE11400H-US000NNC2
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 14,903 kWh
- Electric utility
- PSE&G
- Critter guard fitted
- 384 ft
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7038-1
- Rated output
- 20 kW LP / 18 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 6,300 sq ft
- Electrical service
- 400 amp
- Transfer switch
- 100 amp
- Load management
- Essential Circuits/NEMA-3R
Questions from Cranbury homeowners
Standby generatorDoes new gas piping have to be pressure tested in Cranbury?
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.
SolarShould the roof be replaced before the panels go on?
If the roof is near the end of its life, replacing it first is often the sensible order, because removing and reinstalling an array later adds labor and materials. The decision turns on roof age, shingle condition, any leaks, the decking, the remaining warranty and how long the solar system is expected to last.
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.