Solar and EV Charger in Martinsville, NJ | 7.5 kW Array in 2014, ChargePoint in 2023

Martinsville, NJ · Client since December 2013

Richard from Martinsville, NJ has been a Green Sun Energy Services client since December of 2013. He and Jenn signed that December, the array was producing by the end of March, and the charger followed nearly ten years later.

30 panels and 7.5 kW, from 2014

Producing by 27 March 2014: 30 Trina 250-watt modules on Enphase M215 microinverters, rail-free mounting, 7.5 kW rated and estimated at 8,431 kilowatt hours in the first year. Two hundred and fifty watts is what a full-size panel produced in 2014, and a current module of the same footprint delivers close to twice that. The array is still up and still working, which in the end is the only test worth applying.

A ChargePoint on a NEMA 6-50

13 October 2023. A plug-in unit rather than a hardwired one, adding roughly 36 miles of range an hour. Plug-in suits a household that might want to take the charger with them, or replace it, without calling an electrician to do it.

Ten years between, and what the array was already doing

With the charger counted in, the calculated minimum service came to 125.27 amps against a 200-amp panel – a comfortable margin on a 2,407 square foot house with two refrigerators, a separate freezer, a dishwasher and the laundry. But the number is not what makes this pair worth putting on one page. The gap between them is. The array was designed in 2013 for a household with no electric car in it and no particular prospect of one, and ten years later the same panels are covering a load nobody involved had thought about when they went up. That is the argument for solar that outlasts every change in the incentive landscape: an array sized against a house’s consumption goes on working when the shape of that consumption changes, because it was never tied to what the electricity was being used for.

I chose Green Sun over several other companies mainly because of Glen. No gimmicky sales, spot on with the financial analysis and they were great with implementation services and expectations. The SRECs are paying off and it was the right option for us to purchase the system over leasing, which Glen helped us decide with his industry knowledge. We are extremely happy with the program. Plus it felt good to support a local NJ business over the bigger Solar corporations without sacrificing on quality or cost.

I would highly recommend Green Sun Energy Services.

Why Richard chose Green Sun Energy Services

Professional home EV charging made simple, from electrical design through final inspection.

More than solar panels: a professionally managed energy system, from design and permitting through installation, inspection, activation and ongoing support.

What makes Green Sun Energy Services different

• EV charging: installed with certifications from Qmerit, ChargePoint, Enphase, SolarEdge and Tesla, by a licensed electrician and fully managed by our team. On this home: a ChargePoint CPH50-NEMA6-50-L23 EV charger on a 60-amp circuit.
• 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: a 7.5 kW solar array of 30 Trina TMS-PC05/PA05.18/250W panels, an EnPhase M215-60-2LL-S22-IG Micro-Single inverter and the Zep Solar mounting system.
• Warranty: backed by a 5-year solar workmanship warranty.
• Local: locally owned and operated in New Jersey since 2010, NJHIC licensed (#13VH06229000), with 12 completed EV charger projects and 27 completed solar projects across Somerset County and 91 EV charger projects and 361 solar projects throughout New Jersey.

Our work in Martinsville

Martinsville, a community in Bridgewater Township, is served by PSE&G.

Thinking about solar, an EV charger, or both for your Martinsville home? Tell us about your project here or call 732-410-7818.

Power it. Protect it. Maintain it.

Questions from Martinsville homeowners

SolarWhat does solar offset mean?

It compares the array's estimated annual production with the home's expected annual consumption. A house using 12,000 kWh a year with a system expected to generate 11,400 kWh has a 95 percent offset. It is an annual energy comparison, not a promise that solar supplies 95 percent of the electricity in any given hour.

SolarWhat is the difference between a lease and a power purchase agreement?

Under a lease the customer generally pays an agreed periodic amount for the use of the system; under a power purchase agreement the customer generally pays for the electricity the system produces. Both normally involve third-party ownership, and terms vary considerably between providers.

EV chargingWhat should a Martinsville homeowner look for in an EV charger installer?

One that treats the charger, the car, the electrical service, the permit and any utility programme as a single system rather than fitting a 60-amp breaker because the charger will take one. That means the household's actual daily driving, what the vehicle's onboard charger accepts, the connector, the service rating, a proper load calculation, the capacity left in the panel, Article 625 and the manufacturer's installation instructions, the correct breaker and conductor sizes, hardwired or plug-in, indoor or outdoor, the municipal permit and final inspection, commissioning and network setup, whatever incentives are open at the time, off-peak charging, how it interacts with solar or back-up power if the house has either, and the second car that may arrive later. The question worth asking is which charging system gives the house the speed it actually needs without upgrading the service unnecessarily.

EV chargingWhat amperage settings does a ChargePoint Home Flex have?

Home Flex can be configured for 16, 24, 32, 40, 48 or 50 amps. It is commissioned at installation to match the circuit it is on and the capacity the house has spare, which is what lets the same charger suit a full panel and an empty one.

EV chargingWhat NEMA rating should an outdoor EV charger have?

Common outdoor chargers carry NEMA 3R, 4, or 4X-type enclosure ratings, depending on the product. The rating should match the exposure, especially for uncovered locations or shore-area properties where corrosion resistance can matter.