Thomas from Wall, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since October of 2021. Both jobs were booked on the same day in March of 2021 and finished three days apart that October, which is unusual — most houses take one and come back for the other.
A 14 kW standby generator
The Generac was commissioned on the fifteenth of October and is rated 14 kW on either fuel, so the natural gas it runs on takes nothing off the nameplate. The load survey came to 2,200 square feet and it is switched by a 200-amp automatic transfer switch, so the whole panel is backed.
6.08 kW of solar
Sixteen Hanwha Q.PEAK DUO all-black panels went up three days after the generator, 6.08 kW in total on rail-free mounting, with a first-year production estimate of 7,695 kWh. Sixteen panels is a small array by the standards of this set, and it is the roof that decides that rather than the appetite.
Buying both at once
Doing the two together is the arrangement that makes the most sense and the one fewest people reach on the first visit. The array does nothing in an outage, because a grid-tied system disconnects the moment the utility fails; the generator sits silent on an ordinary day. One crew, one set of permits and one electrical shutdown covered both, and the house came out of a single October with its daytime supply and its outage supply settled at the same time.
Project Facts
- Location
- Wall, NJ
- Services
- Solar Panel Installation, Standby Generator Installation, Standby Generator Service
- Client since
- October 2021
Solar
- Panels
- Hanwha Model # Q.PEAK DUO BLK ML G9 380
- System size
- 6.08 kW
- Inverter
- SolarEdge SE5000H-US000NNC2
- Mounting system
- Ecolibrium Solar
- Estimated first-year production
- 7,695 kWh
Standby generator
- Manufacturer
- Generac Model # 7225
- Rated output
- 14 kW LP / 14 kW NG
- Fuel
- Natural Gas
- Electrical service
- 200 amp
- Transfer switch
- 200 amp
- Load management
- Managed Whole House
Questions from Wall homeowners
Standby generatorDoes a generator keep the well running during an outage in Wall?
Yes, when the well pump is included in the design. A private well pump is electric, so without power there is no running water at all -- a different order of problem from losing the lights. Homes on a well are among the clearest cases for standby power, and the pump belongs on the load list from the start.
SolarHow does an optimizer system differ from microinverters?
An optimizer system puts DC power optimizers at the modules and a single central inverter elsewhere; a microinverter system puts a small inverter at each module. Both can provide module-level monitoring and rapid shutdown when properly designed -- they are different architectures rather than one being the upgrade of the other.
Standby generatorDoes the generator need its own gas shutoff?
The fuel installation has to include the shutoff arrangements required by the adopted fuel-gas code and by the installation instructions. The valve must be positioned where it is accessible, both for servicing and for isolating the machine in an emergency.