Can Solar Panels Power a House?

ryan — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:53:37 +0000

We are often asked if solar can actually power a house? We’ll start by saying that this is not necessarily the right question to be asking, but we’ll get to that later. In short, yes, solar panels can power a house. If a system is big enough and you equip it with energy storage capabilities, solar energy can provide 100 percent of your energy needs.

As we mentioned above, this is the wrong question to be asking. Solar is not designed to be a standalone energy source capable of providing 100 percent of our energy needs at all times. It is possible yes, but not cost effective. Solar’s primary value lies in its ability to reduce your energy consumption during peak energy demands—the time when electricity costs are typically the highest. Any power generated by your system powers your home first and any excess is sent back into the grid and credited by your electricity provider.

When the sun is no longer shining, your home simply pulls electricity from the grid. If you generated more energy during the day than your home or business consumed, you are essentially exchanging those credits you sent into the grid at a 1:1 ratio for any power you are using at night—effectively turning the electricity grid into an energy bank. You of course have the option of purchasing a battery back up system to store your excess power, but these significantly increase the cost of solar electricity, meaning your return on investment will be much less than with a simple grid-tied solar energy system.

So If Solar Is Not Going to Power My House All the Time, What Value Does It Have?

Solar’s role in our power grid is most beneficial as a supplemental source of power. Solar’s production curve follows roughly the same path as our energy usage curve, meaning solar is most beneficial during the times we need power the most. This not only helps homes or businesses equipped with solar to reduce the amount of energy they consume when electricity costs the most, but also anyone connected to the grid.

How, you ask?

Simple. When the grid is near maximum generating capacity, seldom used plants known as peaker plants—or peaking power plants—are activated to prevent the grid from crashing. These plants can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build and must be staffed at all times, although they are only seldom used. Because the constant cost of staffing, maintenance, and the high initial capital cost are required despite the plants not delivering a constant supply of revenue for energy companies, the power supplied by peaker plants commands a much higher per kilowatt hour cost than traditional base load power.

With enough solar energy saturation, we can reduce peak energy demands—thus reducing the needs for peaking power plants and the increased energy costs associated with them.

Want to Learn More About Solar?

If you are considering a solar installation in San Diego, CA or the surrounding area, contact the solar professionals at Action Air, Heating & Solar today. Our solar technicians can discuss the various incentives that are available to you, assess your home’s solar potential, and even provide you with production and return on investment estimates!

California Solar Rebates & Incentives

ryan — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:59:00 +0000

California has established itself not only as the nation’s leader in solar power installations and production, but also one of the leading solar markets in the entire world. In fact, if California is separated from the rest of the nation, it would rank in the top five in the world!

While the reasons for solar power’s popularity in California are many, one of the largest factors in California becoming the most advanced solar market in the United States is the incentives and rebates that the state, local municipalities, and even utility companies have offered to California home and business owners.

Within California, Southern California has established itself as the leading region of the state for solar installations, due in part to the strong local incentive programs that are available to mitigate the costs of installing solar on your home or business.

Read on to learn more about the solar incentives and rebates available for San Diego solar installations or contact us today to discuss installing a solar energy system of your own.

California Solar Initiative – California’s Solar Energy Rebate Program

The state of California has a solar energy rebate program by the name of California Solar Initiative (CSI). The incentives available through CSI are paid based on your system’s production or an expected performance-based buy down. If you choose the production based incentive, you will be given a monthly payment based on actual system performance over five years. Incentive amounts are based on steps in the capacity of solar power generation.

Currently, the incentive capacity for San Diego Gas & Electric customers has been met, so incentive amounts can no longer be guaranteed, but that does not necessarily mean that no incentive money is available. Contact us today to learn more about any incentive money that may still be available to you!

The solar incentive market is in a constant state of flux as funds are added and depleted, so the best way to know what is available to you is to call our solar professionals to discuss your interest in having a solar energy system installed at your home or place of business.

Federal Solar Incentives

As you may already be aware, the Federal government has a 30 percent tax credit available for solar PV installations performed before December 31, 2016. This tax credit is uncapped and available on any residential or commercial solar PV installation of .5kW or bigger.

To learn more about the Federal solar tax credit, visit http://www.seia.org/policy/finance-tax/solar-investment-tax-credit.

Want to Learn More About California Solar Incentives?

Is Air Conditioning Necessary?

ryan — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:41:41 +0000

Whether air conditioning is necessary or not depends upon the context of your question. If you are a landlord and wondering whether you must legally provide air conditioning capabilities to your tenants, your answer may be different than someone that is simply wondering if they need an air conditioner for health reasons.

The answer can also vary greatly depending upon the climate zone in which you live. Here in Southern California, we have multiple climate zones within a relatively small area where the temperatures can fluctuate greatly.

In the cool coastal climate zones where temperatures are moderated by the cool Pacific Ocean temperatures, you could probably get by without an air conditioner for the vast majority of the year, but further inland in the desert climate zones, temperatures can reach extremes nearing—and sometimes exceeding—triple digits. Temperatures in this range can be very dangerous to human health, so in climate zones like these, we absolutely recommend having an air conditioner installed. If you have an air conditioner and it has stopped working, call us for air conditioning repair before the summer heat arrives in full force!

Is an Air Conditioner Required in My Rental Property in California?

In California (and most states) air conditioning is not required in rental properties. Air conditioners are considered a luxury item and not a necessity like a furnace. That’s not to say it is a good idea to forego the air conditioning system in a rental property. Renters today expect certain amenities and air conditioning just happens to be one of them.

Renting a property with air conditioning capabilities will not only allow you to charge a higher price for rent, it will likely help you get your property off the market more quickly.

Need an Air Conditioner for Your Southern California Home?

If you have decided that you need an air conditioner for your Southern California home, the air conditioning professionals at Action Air can help! We will give your home a thorough assessment—free of charge—to determine the AC system that is ideal for your home’s needs and your budget.

Is Solar Worth The Investment?

ryan — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:18:09 +0000

One of the questions we are most commonly asked about our San Diego area solar installations is “is solar worth the investment?”

The “worth” of solar panels varies from person to person. For some, the worth is measured in reducing their impact on the planet’s environment, while for others the value is measured strictly in financial viability. For early adopters, the value of solar was measured more in terms of environmental impact, but solar prices today are a fraction of what they were even five years ago, making solar a winning choice for those seeking to decrease—or even eliminate—their monthly energy bills.

The economics of installing solar panels on your home or business depends heavily on the cost of electricity. In some markets, electricity prices are low, making solar a long-term investment, but in Southern California, we have some of the highest energy prices in the nation—making the solar investment pay for itself in a relatively short period of time.

One Block Off the Grid, a national solar energy company that matches homeowners with local solar installers has created this infographic showing the viability of solar by state:

This infographic does a great job showing how much solar costs, monthly savings, and time to recoup your investment. You’ll notice that on all segments of the infographic, California ranks among the best states for solar energy.

In the San Diego area, these numbers look even better. There is a great deal more sun—and higher energy prices—in Southern California than there is in the northern part of the state, so these numbers are not as accurate at a local level as they are in states that are much smaller than California.

Although there are several variables that can alter the return on investment (ROI), in San Diego, most homeowners that purchase a solar electric system can expect to break even in less than 10 years. Solar panels have a warrantied lifespan of 25 years, meaning you get 15 years or more of reliable, clean, and FREE energy!

If you are considering solar for your home in the San Diego area, contact the solar energy professionals at Action Air, Heating & Solar for a free consultation today! Our solar experts will assess your home’s solar potential, provide you with a quote, and a financial report detailing your total investment, monthly savings, and payback period.

Call today for your free quote!

What Does My AC Cost to Run?

ryan — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:00:07 +0000

Unfortunately there is no simple or exact number that we can give you because air conditioning costs can vary widely depending on the SEER, the unit size, the manufacturer, age, the cost of electricity in your area, and how well the unit has been maintained throughout its life.

We can, however, give an example of an average air conditioner to give you a rough idea of how much energy the average air conditioner consumes.

The average air conditioner in the U.S. today is approximately 3 tons with a 10 SEER efficiency rating. A unit this size draws approximately 2.94kW per hour. To get the approximate cost to run per hour, you simply multiply this number by the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour. In the San Diego area, electricity costs can vary a great deal depending on the time of day that you are using your air conditioning system—from .147 cents per kilowatt hour at baseline costs to more than .29 cents per kilowatt hour at peak usage. For the sake of convenience we’ll simply use the baseline energy cost of .147 cents per kilowatt hour.

So, now the math:

2.94 x .147=.432 cents per hour during standard demand or roughly double during peak demand. Assuming 1,200 summer cooling hours, your total cost to run a 3 ton 10 SEER AC for a year can range between $516 and $1,023.

If your air conditioner has a SEER rating below the 10 SEER used in this example, your air conditioning costs will be higher. For example, if you have an 8 SEER air conditioner, your system is 20 percent less efficient than a 10 SEER unit, so your cooling costs will be approximately 20 percent higher.

If the air conditioner in your home or business is less than 10 SEER, you could be costing yourself hundreds—even thousands of dollars annually. New energy efficient air conditioning systems can be more than 20 SEER with the minimum available SEER today being 13. If your air conditioner is more than 10 years old, air conditioner replacement may be a wise financial decision.

If you are interesting in replacing your old inefficient air conditioning system, contact the San Diego air conditioner replacement experts at Action Air, Heating & Solar today!

Why Does My AC Trip the Circuit Breaker?

ryan — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:20:19 +0000

Electrical breakers are a safety device designed to keep your home and appliances safe in the event of electrical overloads that could cause electrical fires. Sometimes when your circuit breakers trip, it is simply due to weather or a weak breaker, but if the breaker continues to trip after you turn it back on, leave it off. This signals that there is a serious problem that needs to be repaired—not ignored.

Keep in mind that you are dealing with extremely high voltage, higher amperage, and potentially high temperatures. These can have serious consequences like property damage, severe injury, or even death.

If your air conditioner is tripping the breaker in your home, there could be a number of reasons, but the most common causes include:

Loss of refrigerant
Frozen evaporator coil
Dirty furnace filter
Bad compressor
Worn our circuit breaker

The first three issues can lead to your circuit breaker tripping because all three cause your air conditioning system to work harder to achieve the same results, causing additional load on the system that is too much for the breaker to handle. Start first by replacing your furnace filter so you are not restricting air flow over the coil. If the problem continues to occur, you should call an air conditioning repair technician. The most likely cause if this happens is a loss of refrigerant.

If you are experiencing your AC circuit breaker tripping in the San Diego, CA area, contact Action Air, Heating & Solar today. Do not simply ignore electrical problems associated with your air conditioner. It could result in costly repair work—or worse, devastating fires.

Don’t put your home or family at risk, call Action Air today!

Benefits of Solar Energy

ryan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:44:43 +0000

Whether you’ve investigated solar energy in the past or not, you have likely heard of the many benefits installing a solar energy system on your home or business can have. Solar electric systems are a simple—and contrary to popular belief—affordable way to decrease or eliminate your home’s monthly energy bills.

Solar Energy Benefit #1 – Clean & Reliable Energy

The electricity generated by solar panels is 100 percent renewable, predictable, and reliable. Solar energy production can be very accurately predicted—meaning you know how much you can expect your system to produce before you even install it!

Although solar energy panels are not completely without a carbon footprint—it requires energy to manufacture them—all energy produced by the panels themselves is emission-free. This helps to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and, more importantly, reduces the smog that often blankets Southern California in the hot summer months.

Solar Energy Benefit #2 – Energy Savings

The amount of energy savings you realize is dependent on the size of the system you install and your energy habits. We have noticed that many of our customers actually save more energy than we initially predict! There are many reasons for this, but the primary reason is that solar panels provide home and business owners a daily visual reminder to be thoughtful of their energy habits. Solar energy systems can be completely monitored digitally using easy to understand software that displays how much energy you are producing, how much you are consuming, and your net consumption.

Solar Energy Benefit #3 – Grid Stability

The power grid in the U.S. is old, inefficient, and in many areas, strained. Southern California has some of the most strained power infrastructure in the nation due to exceptionally high demand in the summer. Solar energy can help the energy grid because it operates at maximum capacity during the same hours that the grid experiences peak demand. This reduces the likelihood of blackouts and improves reliability for everyone.

Solar Energy Benefit #4 – Job Growth

Solar installation is a driver of local job growth. All around the nation, the solar industry has helped out-of-work construction professionals find work. Nationwide there are more than 105,000 people employed in the solar industry with nearly 14,000 jobs created in 2012 alone!

Schedule a Free Solar Evaluation

If you are interested in solar installation at your San Diego area home or business, contact Action Air, Heating & Solar today for a free solar evaluation. Call us at (888) 530-0267 or fill out the contact form on the right to schedule your solar estimate.