Solar, Generator, Critter Guard and Soft Wash in Middletown, NJ | 10.88 kW and a 16-Circuit Backup

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Softwash Service, Solar Critter Guard and Solar Panel Installation in Middletown, NJ by Green Sun Energy Services.

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Middletown, NJ · Client since March 2017

Wayne from Middletown, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since March of 2017, and the house has had four separate pieces of work since – two of them in the same spring.

34 panels and 10.88 kW

Spring of 2017: 34 LG 320-watt modules on a SolarEdge inverter with an optimizer on every panel, rail-free mounting, 10.88 kW rated and estimated at 13,819 kilowatt hours in the first year. The inverter is deliberately oversized against the array rather than matched to it, which costs a little at the outset and leaves the system room afterwards. The roof needed nothing, so the array went straight onto it.

A 9 kW Generac on sixteen circuits

June of 2017, and this one is deliberately not a whole-house machine. A 9 kW Generac in an aluminum enclosure on its own pad, feeding a sixteen-circuit essential-circuits transfer switch in a NEMA-3R outdoor enclosure. What the survey actually needed carried was short and specific: two sump pumps and a refrigerator. That is the argument for essential circuits over whole house, and it is a good one. If what has to keep running is the pumps, the cold food, some light and the heat, then a smaller machine on a nominated list does it for less money, burns less gas and is a simpler thing to keep alive for thirty years. A whole-house switch is the right answer when a household wants an outage to be invisible. A sixteen-circuit switch is the right answer when they want it to be survivable, and are content to know the difference.

Critter guard, six years later

December of 2023: six-inch guard fitted around the perimeter of an array that had been up since 2017. Retro-fitting is more awkward than doing it during the install, and it is still worth doing, because the gap beneath a panel array is sheltered, dry and about the size a squirrel is looking for – and the wiring up there is the expensive part of the roof.

10,543 square feet of soft washing

July of 2025. Soft washing is low pressure and a cleaning solution rather than a pressure washer, which is what lifts algae and mildew off siding without driving water in behind it – and on a house carrying an array it is the only method that leaves the system alone.

A large array and a small generator, on purpose

It looks like a mismatch: nearly eleven kilowatts of solar and a nine kilowatt generator wired to sixteen circuits. It is not. The two are bought for opposite days. The array is sized to what the house uses across a year, and the bigger it is the more of that it covers. The generator is sized to what the house cannot do without for a few days, which is a far shorter list – and on this property it is two sump pumps and a refrigerator. A grid-tied array contributes nothing during an outage, because the inverter shuts down with the grid; so the question the generator answers is not “how big is the house” but “what must not stop”. Answered honestly, that question usually returns a smaller number than people expect.

"...The install proceeded without a hitch and looked great. Inspecting the attic, I couldn’t find a single fastener penetrating the roof deck; every screw was sunk into the rafters. As promised, no part of the array is visible from the front or sides of the house... If you are thinking about “going solar,” or even just getting a standby generator, you really ought to give Glen at Green Sun a call. "- Wayne from Middletown, NJ.  Solar Panel Installation Review Source: Angie's List
I recently contacted Green Sun ("GS")about power washing my house, deck, walkways, retaining walls, etc. GS obtained a detailed and up-to-date view of my property, and, along with the square footage of my home, developed a cost estimate. I obtained an estimate from another contractor, which was based on the same information as the GS estimate. GS was less expensive by a not-insignificant amount; yet, as best as I could determine, GS offered the same thorough approach using similar products as their competitor. I moved forward with GS. The 2-person team arrived on time on the scheduled day, and worked the full day, power washing all the walkways, deck, patio, retaining walls. I was scheduled for 2 days, and the team returned as scheduled and completed the job, including the roof and the rest of the house. The results were excellent- what a difference! The team quite obviously cared about what they were doing. A concern I had was the impact the power washing might have on the mature landscaping surrounding the treated areas. I was assured that as a matter of course, the team waters down the plants, trees, etc., before and after treatment. I need not have been concerned - no issues there. When it's time (again), I will definitely be using Green Sun for power washing. - Google