Steve in Princeton Junction has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since November of 2011. The array was commissioned in August 2012 and the standby generator the following May.
47 panels, commissioned August 2012
Forty-seven Canadian Solar 235-watt panels, 11.05 kW in total, on Zep Solar mounting with an Enphase M215 microinverter behind each one and an ANSI production meter on the system. Estimated first-year production is 12,838 kWh and the utility is JCP&L.
Forty-seven panels is a great many, and it is a function of the year rather than the ambition. At 235 watts a module — ordinary for 2011 — eleven kilowatts simply takes that many. The same output today would take twenty-five modern panels and about half the roof.
A 20 kW machine in May 2013
The generator is a Generac 20 kW, model 5875, delivering 18 kW on natural gas, which is what this 4,000 square foot house runs on. It sits behind a 200-amp service-rated transfer switch with two power management modules, and the house’s full electrical calculation comes to 27,040 watts with 5,000 of that in air conditioning, which the modules manage while the machine is running.
It was last serviced on 19 March 2026.
What the wait was for
There are nine months between the day this household signed for solar and the day the array started producing. That is worth explaining, because it is the part of a solar purchase nobody sells and everybody experiences.
A residential array is not really a product that gets delivered. It is a permitting exercise with equipment attached. The design has to be drawn and submitted; the township has to review and approve it; the utility has to process an interconnection application and agree to what is being connected to its network; the work has to be scheduled; the electrical inspection has to pass; and only then does the utility authorise the system to be switched on. Any one of those steps can sit on somebody’s desk for weeks, and none of them is within a contractor’s control.
Nine months was long even for 2011, when the queues were longer than they are now. What can be controlled is whether the household is told what is happening while it runs its course.
The generator, by contrast, took under five months from signature to commissioning — a smaller permitting job, no utility interconnection to negotiate, and a machine that connects to the house rather than to the grid. Two systems, two entirely different processes, and the difference between them is almost entirely paperwork rather than plant.
Why Princeton Junction 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: an 11.045 kW solar array of 47 Canadian Solar CS6P-235PX panels, an EnPhase M215-60-2LL-S22/S23 Micro-Single inverter and the Zep Solar 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 5875 standby generator (20 kW LP / 18 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 25 completed solar projects and 13 completed standby generator projects across Mercer County and 360 solar projects and 614 standby generator projects throughout New Jersey.
Our work in Princeton Junction
Green Sun Energy Services has completed 2 featured solar projects, 2 standby generator installations and 2 generator service customers in Princeton Junction. Princeton Junction, a community in West Windsor Township, is served by PSE&G.
Generate electricity on your roof and use it to help power your vehicle.
Thinking about solar, a standby generator, or both for your Princeton Junction home? Tell us about your project here or call 732-410-7818.
Power it. Protect it. Maintain it.
Project Facts
- Location
- Princeton Junction, NJ
- Services
- Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- November 2011
Solar
- Manufacturer & model
- Canadian Solar CS6P-235PX
- Panels
- 47
- System size
- 11.05 kW
- Inverter
- EnPhase M215-60-2LL-S22/S23 Micro-Single
- Mounting system
- Zep Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 12,838 kWh
- Electric utility
- JCP&L
- Workmanship warranty
- 5 years
Standby generator
- Manufacturer & model
- Generac 5875
- Rated output
- 20 kW LP / 18 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Home sized for
- 4,000 sq ft
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
- Workmanship warranty
- 5 years
Questions from Princeton Junction homeowners
Standby generatorHow much clearance is needed above a generator?
Applicable air-cooled guidance requires roughly five feet of overhead clearance from structures, overhangs and projections. That is what rules out a good many low decks, roof overhangs and alcoves as generator locations, and it is worth establishing early rather than after a site is chosen.
Standby generatorWhat should we do if it runs for more than a day?
Continuous running for twenty-four hours or more deserves attention. The manufacturer's continuous-use guidance covers a proper shutdown, an oil-level check, a leak inspection and maintenance based on the hours accumulated. Follow the safe shutdown procedure rather than opening or servicing a machine that is running.
SolarHow does residential solar work on a Princeton Junction home?
The panels convert sunlight into direct-current electricity, and an inverter or microinverters convert that into alternating current the house can use. When the array produces more than the house is drawing, the surplus flows out through the utility meter under New Jersey's net-metering rules. When the house needs more than the array is making, the difference comes from the utility.
SolarAre panels designed for the wind near Princeton Junction?
Yes. The array and its mounting system have to be designed to resist the applicable wind loads, and coastal and exposed locations can carry different wind-design conditions from sheltered inland ones. It is one of the reasons the mounting system and its engineering are chosen for the site rather than by habit.
SolarWhat does the inverter do?
It converts the direct current the panels produce into alternating current the house and the grid can use. Residential systems generally use either a central inverter, with optimizers at the modules where applicable, or a microinverter at each module.