Brian Sadler discusses the solar installation process from start to finish, including handling roof issues, maintenance, and monitoring systems.
John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Brian Sadler, Vice President at Solaris Renewables, a solar company in Massachusetts providing premium solar and storage technologies with exceptional customer service; and designing, installing and servicing solar systems in Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire and Maine. Today our topic is solar installation and maintenance. Welcome, Brian.
Brian Sadler: Hi, John.
The Solar Installation Process
John: So Brian, what does the solar installation process entail, all the way from the beginning of the project to its finish?
Brian: Good question. For a lot of folks, it’s a little bit of a mystery to understand what the process is, and as a full service installer, we handle everything from front to back. So, typically speaking, potential customers come to us through our website and want to inquire about how to learn more about solar for their home or business. Otherwise, a lot of referral business as well from happy customers, sharing with their friends, family and neighbors.
Then they talk to our inside sales team who would set an appointment with them. We do virtual appointments with our project developers where they would have the educational process to learn about what the current landscape is of solar here in the region and then be able to look at a proposal together and customize a system that works for them in their home.
Then once they’re ready to move forward, we have a simple agreement. We do the paperwork that also entails the utility documentation and any incentive documentation that we take care of on their behalf as well.
And then we schedule a drone survey where we’re able to confirm the solar analysis we did upfront via satellite imagery. And once we have the drone information back, our engineers process that and then go on site and meet with the homeowner to look at the structure of the home and their electrical system and then identify the wiring runs, equipment placement, and we are able to get some customer input on things they might want to add or change or things like that as well.
Once we have that information, we make a professional set of building plans to submit to the customer for their approval, and once they approve the plans, we submit that to the utility for permission from the utility, and after we have the permission of the utility, we apply for permits and the permitting from the local town and sometimes that requires a building, electrical and even a fire permit in some cases now.
And once we have that, we’re ready to install. They basically go in the scheduling queue and then we’re ready to schedule the installation. So that process takes a couple months, typically speaking. And some can be quicker than others. It does depend on the homeowner and their responsiveness. Also the town and the utility and their responsiveness. And then some other parameters based on the system size and such as well.
Once we have all those pieces in place and we’re going to install, we have our team of installers who would show up on the site. And usually a typical install is, I would say, a couple days, two to three days, again depending on the scope and size. And there we have a roof team that’s installing the mounts, the rails, the roof boxes and the wiring and the panels themselves on the roof, and then that wire that comes down to connect to their inverter and their electronics that takes the power from the panels and makes it so our homes can use them.
Typically speaking, the general process takes two to three months or so from contract to installation. After installation, we have the inspections and then we submit that information to the utility for their final permission and they can energize the system, which is the highlight of everyone’s project is being able to turn it on and start realizing those energy savings and making their own power.
Roof Inspection
John: You mentioned doing a drone inspection and then also an in-person inspection as well. What are you looking for when you do those inspections? Do you go at a certain time of day, for example, when it’s sunny out, to see whether or not you’re correct and that you’re getting full sunlight on these parts of the roof and there’s no shadows from other parts of the roof or trees or things like that? What are you looking for?
Brian: Yeah, we’re looking for with the drone is really the quality of the roof. So really only high wind or heavy rain or snow would be a no-go zone for the drone, but otherwise it doesn’t need to be a sunny day. It’s really to get high resolution images of the roof and, through those images, the drone software allows us to do really accurate measurements, so the software we use ahead of time is really accurate. We find it’s accurate within an inch or so, and it gives us a good indication of the pitch, the scope of the roof and some of the details on the roof. But the drone really hones in and that allows us to see where any obstructions are, pipes, where the hips and valleys and dormers come together, and we can get really accurate measurements, more like down to within even less than an eighth of an inch, so we can really hone in on that design.
That’s when we come to the site, we have the design in hand on an iPad, so it can be manipulated. We can add panels, change panels, change the position, the orientation of panels, and get the customer’s feedback on that. Because one thing, aesthetics are a big deal for our customers and we take that seriously as well. And then same with the wiring runs and equipment placement. So they can get a nice picture, so to speak, of what their installation would look like, at that site visit. But the drone really allows us to, A) make sure that the condition of the roof and if it’s shingles for instance, that they’re in good condition and where we can live up to our warranties or we might recommend reroofing, things like this before we install.
And then the onsite, again, it doesn’t need to be certain weather conditions. Mostly that has been done at that point. And it’s more looking at the internal pieces, which is the framing of the roof structure itself and gathering that information, as well as the condition of the electrical system itself, making sure that it’s up to code, if there’s any code violations we need to bring those up to code.
When Is Reroofing Required?
John: At what point would you be able to tell if there are some structural problems with the roof that might require you to do some reroofing or something like that?
Brian: Yeah, typically we gather that information and we send that off to a structural engineer, which is a requirement for us to get permits, especially here in Massachusetts. So they’ll send back all the calculations in a letter either saying that the roof will support this particular solar system, or they’ll make recommendations if you were to reduce panels or move panels, then you would pass or that the site would need what we call a retrofit, which is structural improvements. A lot of times that’s sistering of rafters, potentially building a knee wall to support the span of the rafters or collar ties, things like that that are structural improvements to be able to install the system as we spec’d it.
Do Solar Panels Require Maintenance?
John: Okay. And then what about maintenance? What type of maintenance is required on solar panels in Massachusetts?
Brian: Great question. That seems to be a common one as well, which we hear a lot. And what’s great about solar, there’s no moving parts, right? So there’s no wear and tear items. The panels themselves, sitting on the roof, don’t require any maintenance. They basically are getting cleaned by the precipitation, be it snow or rain. So if we have a high pollen spring or summer, that gets washed away and so there’s really no maintenance in terms of the system as we see it.
The thing that we do need is to make sure we have connectivity with the customer’s internet, so the equipment’s talking to the app, and then we have visibility over that, so we can do remote troubleshooting if there were to be some type of issue with the electronics. Typically speaking, the electronics would be the most common failure point we have. A central inverter is the electronic system that we use, and then they have individual optimizers or module level electronics on the back of each panel that communicate with the inverter and with the monitoring system, so we can identify if there are any issues and where that issue is as well.
Solar Monitoring Systems
John: Talk a little bit more about the monitoring system and how that works and what sort of issues you’re able to see using the monitoring.
Brian: Man, they’ve come a long way. I mean, the monitoring is really slick now. Now it’s any wifi device, so your mobile device, your tablet, and any desktop as well. You can see really everything that’s going on with your solar system. There is some panel level monitoring as well that you can see, and we can see that, on our end, to identify if there are issues and where that issue is.
But basically as complex as you make the system, you can see everything your solar does. If you have a storage system, you can see the relationship with your batteries and how much storage is left in your batteries and how long that would last given the current usage you’re making. You can see what you’re using and what the house is using as well. So you get a really great indication of your whole energy system together in one place. And if you have an EV charger, you can also see that too. And there’s some controls that you can have with your EV charging on time of use. And same with the batteries. There’s a lot you can do with it depending on where you live, what utility you’re in, and how complex your system has become.
John: So you’d be able to tell if there was one panel in your system that for some reason was all of a sudden not working correctly, you’d be able to isolate that panel and then maybe come out and replace it?
Brian: So we can, yes. Some systems have the ability to have panel level on the customer end. We found that it made for a lot of unneeded phone calls, so we have basically kept that for ourselves. And then occasionally we’ve allowed customers to have that. But there’s some minor differences between wattages and performance of panels, even though they’re right next to each other. Or if a leaf or shading is on that panel that you’ll see some indications of different numbers and it creates a lot of inbound calls that are…
John: A lot of panicked customers.
Brian: Yeah, it’s not needed. So we explain that all upfront too, and based on the site conditions and what’s going on. But there’s some customers that have maybe some trees, for instance, that they’re considering removing. Or that they might add an addition in the future and they want to understand a little bit better about what that might look like, and we can share a lot of data with them to show during times of day and how this might look and what might make a good choice and what might be more hurtful to the production.
What Happens If a Solar Panel Manfunctions?
John: What does happen in the case of a solar panel malfunction? Something goes wrong, what do you do then?
Brian: Great question as well. And this one, we could go down the rabbit hole on a little bit because of the warranties and the support with solar panels or any of the equipment. In our case, we have long had really established and close partnerships with manufacturers of panels and all the equipment, but basically there’s two different warranties to every panel. There’s a product warranty and there’s a performance warranty.
Every panel in the world essentially has a 25-year performance warranty. It states that it produces X amount in year one and declines over time. There’s also the product warranty. Those typically used to be as short as five years, but mostly were 10. And then some companies were 15 or 20 or 25. And they’re prorated warranties, and what it was is it was a lot of confusion for customers, and it was similar to a roof warranty where it’s basically an insurance policy and they’re trying to not pay you. So they’d point to the other warranty that it was, “Oh, your product’s not covered because the performance is working,” or vice versa.
So we’ve long worked with companies that provide all-inclusive warranties, totally comprehensive with labor, shipping and full replacement included. And then we manage those warranties on behalf of the customer. So for our customers, if a panel were to malfunction, we’re just going to go put a new panel on. We’re going to deal with the warranty claim on the backend internally and make it a great customer experience. They need not worry about it. They don’t need to chase the manufacturer around on the prorated warranty, things like that. Instead, they just get a full panel replacement. But if you don’t have that type of service and a warranty on your equipment, it’s less of a positive customer experience, I’d say. So that’s really how we handle the panel warranties themselves and why we use the products that we do.
John: All right. Well that’s really great information, Brian. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Brian: Thanks, John. Good to be with you.
John: And for more information, you can visit the website at SolarisRenewables.com or call (781) 270-6555.