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Commercial solar installations are what gets noticed the most in our industry. It's "bragging rights" to say "We did the largest commercial ground mount in the Portland jurisdiction" (true) or "We installed the largest ground mounted solar array for Washington County's Public Safety Training Center" (also true). But the question that lingers (when thinking about a solar array for your company or business) is whether or not it's "worth it". What do you get out of it as a business owner? Well...it seems that the most common thing we see our customers doing is bragging about being "green" or "energy independent". Both of those points are valid, but if you've read any of our previous blogs, I like to say: "Math wins MOST arguments" - because it's true So, I think the real questions we need to be asking ourselves (as business owners) are: 1) Is owning my own power generation WORTH IT? (answer: typically, yes - but not always) 2) What impact can I expect from covering my property with solar panels? (answering this question really indicates your intentions - green power OR financially motivated) 3) What is the Internal Rate of Return of a Solar Project? (this starts the conversation in the fall about CapEx for the following year's projects). 4) What are the tax implications and benefits of a solar installation for my company? So, let's take these one at a time: Question 1) Is owning my own power generation WORTH IT? Answer 1) Almost always, yes, it is worth owning the power generation equipment for your company. Many of our recent commercial customers are farming operations (hops, wine, apples, etc). Each of these ownership groups all had the same goal in this regard: Stop paying so much to the electric company. Their goals ranged from 50% offset to 105% offset of their current electrical bills. So, why is this so important? Well, in general they all recognized that the electric company doesn't plan on lowering their costs to their customers anytime soon. In fact, each project owner knew they could expect to see at least a 7% cost increase each year for the next three year from their electric company (public records for this can always be found by researching rate increases requested by each electric company at the state's public utility commission - the electric company doesn't get to raise your rates without first asking the state for permission). Because of these rate increases, the cost of operation for many of our commercial companies is going to be impacted (negatively - it's going to cost them more to perform the same tasks). Unfortunately - electric rate increases for corporate America are always regressive - meaning that the cost ultimately rolls down-hill to the customers of each respective company. It cost them more to make their widget, and the consequence to the retail side is: a more expensive widget. By taking control of their energy future, each of these companies have done a very non-regressive thing: they've locked in their electrical costs permanently (at their current size and production capabilities). They re-invested their profits into the company to facilitate two things: 1) cost control of their production and by a consequence, 2) they keep their product pricing (to their retail market) at their current rate - for longer. Other outside influences will always increase the retail cost of their widget (like wages, insurance rates, benefit packages, etc) - but in keeping the fixed costs of production locked down (by owning their own power plant) these companies will have a viable business model for longer than their non-solar competitors who are at the whims of their electric companies price hikes. Generally speaking - companies who adopt solar are usually doing so for many reasons beyond "being green" - and in doing so, they are able to take their saved money (from not paying electric bills) and grow their company in different ways - hiring more help, increasing advertising budgets, buying upgraded equipment that is more efficient, etc. These companies are progressive in a way that isn't always as obvious as it might seem. This leads us to: Question 2) What impact can I expect from covering my property with solar panels? Answer - this truly depends on what your energy demands are. And with that in mind, adding solar to your company's energy portfolio might end up being more environmentally motivated than economically motivated. Your company's culture (publicly) might incline you to add solar to your property even though your total energy offset is less than 2% of your annual consumption. If your electrical consumption is large (like a steel mill or a server farm), then having solar as part of your energy portfolio might simply "check a box" that your corporate leadership wants checked. I've been involved with projects where the power consumption of one facility rivals the power consumption of (literally) 10,000 households - annually. When companies like this install solar on their properties, it makes financial sense (mathematically) as we are building these folks their own power plant - but the true impact towards their operating costs feels a little lack-luster (if I'm being honest). These types of customers are usually "checking the renewable energy box" for their corporate culture and goals. But herein lies the irony - these companies might not be seeing the same percentage of reduction (to their energy portfolio) as different kinds of companies, but when they are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on their electrical costs, it starts to feel a lot more significant, huh? So, what kind of adopter (of solar energy) are you? Are your goals to prevent rate increases (from the electric company) and in effect - lower your operating costs? Or will this project have an impact on your energy portfolio, but more so be in line with your corporate culture to reduce your carbon footprint (permanently for the power you're producing)? Only you can determine what your motivations are. Question 3) What is the Internal Rate of Return of a Solar Project? Answer 3) First let's establish what "internal rate of return" for a solar project MEANS. In general, when you calculate internal rate of return, you are estimating (over time) what amount of "interest" or "yield" your investment will provide you with. For instance - when you buy a new piece of equipment that is more efficient than its predecessor, you're going to run the numbers to see if the costs (associated with buying, installing, and operating the equipment) will result in more profit for the company. Now the fun part: should you buy Brand X or Brand Y (of this equipment)? When you run the numbers for Brand X and then run the numbers for Brand Y, you'll quickly see which of these pieces of equipment will give you the greatest return. For example: a) Brand X might have a 7.5% Internal rate of Return (when all things are factored in: cost of acquisition, cost of operation, maintenance and repairs, increased productivity, etc.). b) Brand Y might have a 8.0% Internal Rate of Return (when all of the same things are factored in). By analyzing these things, it becomes apparent Brand Y is the better investment (even if it is the more expensive brand). DPI Solar provides this analysis for you in regards to the expected yield (internal rate of return) for your solar project. So, should you choose a solar installation over a different capital expenditure? You've been waiting for it, so here it is: Math wins MOST arguments! When you look at the yield for a solar installation and compare it to something else you're considering (instead of a solar installation), the internal rate of return of each investment should be compared against the other and in general, you should pick the better performer. In general, the Internal Rate of Return for a Solar Project/Installation hovers anywhere from 13% all the way up to 20%. These numbers are truly exceptional. And they are bolstered by local and federal incentives that help drive down the acquisition costs for these projects - incentives that might not be available for other CapEx projects. This can make solar projects jump to the head of the line for your CapEx planning: some of these incentives are decreasing each month and will soon be gone for good. Consider your internal rate of return for a solar project when you run your numbers and in general, you will be hard pressed to find a higher yield project for your company, regardless of how much of the total energy portfolio your solar project will impact. Finally, we have question 4) What are the tax implications and benefits of a solar installation for my company? As of the writing of this article, the tax benefits and cash incentives that come with a solar project are: 1) local incentives - usually shown as cash discounts given by a third party for your project 2) state incentives - some of these are not monetarily quantifiable - like Oregon's tax abatement of Property Taxes associated with a solar improvement. 3) Federal Incentives - currently the U.S. the Federal Government is giving solar adopters a 30% Federal Tax Credit (used against taxes owed by the business) that rolls unused credit forward up to 20 years. 4) 100% Depreciation of the Asset in the tax year it was installed (this is effectively similar to a deduction that you'll use to lower your claimed taxable income). The big news to come out this year (2022) is for non-profit organizations (ie: 501c3 corporations). This includes state and local governments, charitable, religious, and educational groups. Historically, these groups could make use of the depreciation (it can help them lower any claimed revenues and keep them in "non-profit" status) BUT they could NOT use a tax credit (as these groups don't have a tax liability). As such, these tax credits were typically lost or went unused by these groups if they did choose to adopt solar for their organizations. Not anymore! The great news for these groups is that the U.S. Treasury will now write these groups a check equal to the amount they would have received in tax credit. These are the types of changes that help move this tech further into adoption. To be clear - this option is only available for the above mentioned groups. If you're not a 501c3 organization, you'll have to go the long way around and use the tax credit to offset your owed taxes at the end of the tax year. So, this is just a small taste of the what and why a business would invest in solar power, but if you want to learn more, give us a call to see if a Solar Installation a good move for Your Business

If you're just getting started or are already well on the way to starting a solar installation on your property, one thing that we (at DPI Solar) try to touch on and ensure you understand is: Net Metering. Maybe you've heard of it? Maybe you've even had it explained? Regardless of your previous exposure to this term, we will always ask you to explain it back to us so we know where you are in your exploration of this process. Why? Simply stated, Solar Net Metering is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF YOUR LONG TERM INVESTMENT. Sure - you're gonna get some great tax credits when you install solar. Heck, maybe your electric company or state has some additional programs available to you that help lower the cost of the installation. Regardless of those incentives, I still stand firm that Net Metering is the ONE thing you need to know and be aware of - for the duration you plan on keeping your solar panels online with the electric company. Ok...ok...I've built it up. So let's get down to it: Net Metering is nothing more than "roll-over power for your home". Many of us have had a plan with the cell-phone companies (for data or...ahem...for the older set - like me - minutes) that allowed us to "roll-over" unused data or minutes to the following months for use there. The idea here is that you could take any of your unused data (or minutes) and use it as a credit the following month if you went over your allotted amount of data or minutes. Net metering for power works very similar to this premise: on months (in the summer) when your solar panels produce more power than your property uses, the excess power (calculated in kilowatt-hours) is then put on your bill as a kilowatt-hour CREDIT to use the next month (or months) towards your bill. In Oregon (and most of the US), your solar panels will produce the majority of their power during the summer months (typically, 70% of the total power you'll generate during the year will be generated during the months of April-early October). What this means for your bill is that you'll start accumulating kilowatt-hour credits that keep adding up, month after month as you head into the winter months. In Oregon (when our monsoon season starts in the late fall), we will watch the sunshine vanish for most days, replaced with clouds and rain. It is during these months that we see the solar production of your panels significantly decrease. This is where the real magic of Net Metering kicks in: those roll-over credits that you built up during the summer months start to apply towards your monthly electric bills where the solar panels failed to make all of the energy you used during that month. Here's one of the most important (and BEST) things about net metering: the electric company is going to credit your account in kilowatt-hours (as opposed to $$). Why does this mean so much? Well, stated as plainly as I can - getting credits towards future electric bills in kilowatt-hours means that the kilowatt hour you generated in July of this year is equal to a kilowatt hour you'll use in February of next year. What if the cost/rate per kilowatt hour goes up between July and February? It matters not my friends! That's the absolute beauty of this program: your kilowatt-hour is going to be worth whatever the electric company charges you in the future. So, if your electric company is currently charging you 13.5¢ per kilowatt hour, yet they decide to raise their rates to 15¢ per kilowatt hour next month, guess what? Your kilowatt-hour generated today (at a value of 13.5¢) will be worth the future value of 15¢ when that day comes! This is why it is SO valuable and important: because having the electric company give you credits in kilowatt-hours (rather than $ money) ensures that your solar panels continue to keep up with your power demands and continue to offset your electric bill at the same rate they did on day one. A few things to be aware of: 1) Nearly all net metering contracts have an annual start/end date. For most of Oregon, that date falls around April 1st of each year. If you have any leftover kilowatt-hour credits sitting on your account, those credits are typically wiped out (and donated to low-income assistance programs) thus leaving you to start your new net metering year at zero credits (every year) on or around April 1st of each year. 2) Unless you live in or use power from an electric company that has "avoided cost" net metering*, you'll never receive any sort of cash reimbursement from your annual over-production. * Avoided Cost Net Metering is when the utility company reimburses you for your excess generation. They pay you exactly what they would have paid Bonneville Power for the electricity (which is substantially less than they charge you for it. Avoided Cost Net Metering is only somewhat valuable to you from a cash perspective if the electric company pays you out annually (rather than monthly) but still allows you to "roll over" your excess generation month-to-month. Candidly, this is not as great of a program when compared to a net metering program offered by PGE or PP&L. 3) There are no net metering programs in Oregon that favor customers who generate more than 100% of their annual usage. Even with avoided cost net metering, you'll end up getting paid less than the full retail value of the kilowatt-hours you over-generated. Finally - and maybe most importantly: Net Metering agreements can and do change. Sometimes there are special interest groups that will outright try to eliminate net metering in a specific state (with nobody grandfathered in). This attack has happened in states like Hawaii, Arizona, California, and New Jersey. It is very important that you as a consumer use your voice via emails, phone calls, or meetings to speak up against such moves that these groups attempt to take. Although it would take a lot of effort and money for these groups to succeed, they will spend it knowing that they are trying to prevent customers like you from generating their own power. So when the day comes that you get contacted by your installer to sign and send an email to preserve your net metering rights, do so! Tax Credits and local incentives are the short term benefits of a solar installation. Net Metering it the long term benefit of your investment. Make sure you not only understand it, but be ready to preserve it when the time comes! Have more questions about net metering? Call us at (503) 857-0099 and let us walk you through it in person or over the phone!

We get this question a LOT... Wait...actually...We DON'T get this question as often as we should. Having "been there, done that" in my industry for 15 years (23 as a licensed electrician), I will tell you that privately, you could definitely find me (at least once a week) holding my head in my hands, staring frustratingly down at my desk as I listen to one of our latest, sadly mis-informed potential customers tell me how "solar company x" says that they can install one battery and they'll never know that the power went out! Gee...I wish it was that simple. But, it's not. It REALLY REALLY isn't just so simple as to add a battery and you'll never know the power fails at your house, ever again. So kiddos, here we go: If you haven't read my previous blog about how battery backup with solar works (https://www.dpisolar.com/post/solar-power-with-battery-backup), now might be a good time to start there. You're back so soon? Wow - let me say that what you just read in seven minutes took me a week of edits to trim it down enough so it MIGHT make sense! Ok, so you're up to speed on how it works, so the next question is, "what can I run when I'm on battery backup?" If you DID read the previous blog post, then this should all flow (if not, I hope it still makes sense to you as well!) ALL currently offered solar installations that include a battery backup have the pieces we discussed in the previous post (some products have it all in one "box" while other products have multiple pieces that attach to your wall). We are going to consider two main pieces here for your question: 1) the output of the system when it's in battery backup mode 2) the size of the battery bank. Let's start with what is really the most critical spec on the whole system: The output of your system when it is in battery backup mode. With several manufacturers out there, it should be kind of evident that each brand will probably have a different output, and... they do. So for this blog, I'm going to use the Q.Cells Q.Home+ ESS HYB G1 (gen 1) system that we currently offer (we also offer a more robust product for our rural customers, but in general the brand we are focusing on in this blog comprises about 80% of our installations). The product has Li-Ion Batteries with two available sized battery banks. The Q.Home+ product has an off-grid output of 7,500 watts, and can offer a short-time surge (less than 30 seconds) of 8,200 watts. When we consider what you can / should / should not run on your batteries when the grid fails, we need to consider two different aspects of your proposed loads: 1) start-up (ie: Locked Rotor Current) demand (in watts) 2) running demand (in watts) As you might be guessing, a lot of your appliances run at much lower demand (watts) than they do when they initially start up. The science here is a bit complex, but the National Electric Code gives us some ideas on this in their tables in section 430. *For the nerds, look up NEC Table 430.248. This table lists out various horse-power loads and shows how many amps they will draw at the specified voltages. A lot of designers will "cheat" and convert each horse-power rating into watts so we can quickly figure out loads (when we're used to working in watts, this is much easier). The other table you'll want to look at is table 430.251(A). This gives us "locked rotor currents" that we might expect to see when the respective loads start up. So, why do we need to take these things into account? Well, because we want to make sure that when we install and test your system, it works like it should and doesn't "fault-out" under "overload". So, am I dancing around your question? Or...am I laying the groundwork necessary to make sure you get what you want out of your system? (hint: it's the second one!) Let's start a list of things we want to run when the power goes out: 1) 1 hp water well pump with "soft-start" or "VFD" - we want water to drink (and maybe just as important, to flush the toilet) 2) refrigerator - don't want our food to spoil 3) freezer - don't want all that stuff we bought at Costco to thaw and spoil 4) microwave - easily the fastest way to heat/reheat things 5) LED lighting in the home - if you haven't converted, do so before you go with a battery backup 6) various outlets to plug things into (phone chargers, laptop chargers, gaming systems) 7) TV - gotta have that news to update us (or our weekday "stories" aka: soap operas) 8) Internet modem/router - keeps your hardline phone running, your internet on (so long as the lines are still in tact to your home) Now - let's list out the average start-up or running demand for this list: 1) Well Pump with VFD/Soft-Start: 4,080 watts to start 2) refrigerator: 600 watts to start the compressor 3) freezer: 600 watts to start the compressor 4) microwave - no start-up surge - 1,100 watts 5) LED Lights - no startup surge - 10 lights = 200 watts total 6) Various Outlets - usually 1,000 watts or less total 7) TV - typically pulls about 250 watts when on 8) Internet Modem/Router - up to 100 watts running So, what are our loads (if EVERYTHING on this list is running at the same time): 4,080+600+600+1,100+200+1,000+250+100 = 7,880 watts when EVERYTHING is running at the same time Are we good? Well, if you scroll back up, you'll see I put the output of the Q.Home+ system in bold (and that number was 7,500 watts) But Josh - 7,880 watts is more than 7,500 watts, right? YES! But...this system is designed to offer a short-time SURGE to allow larger loads (like a well) to start up (surge power of the Q.Home+ is 8,200 watts). So, this list works. You would be able to start and run everything on the above list without issue. But, what's missing? What did I NOT put on that list? 1) Central Air Conditioner (9,000 watts typical) 2) Central Heating (13,500 watts typical) 3) Hot Water Heater (4,500 watts) 4) Electric Range/Cook Top (8,200 watts typical) 5) Clothes Dryer (5,000 watts typical) 6) Washing Machine (1,800 watts typical) The reason these loads aren't included in the above list is because each one of them on their own would likely use up ALL of the 7,500 watts of power to run. If you were to try to start a central air conditioner or central heater (heat pump) with a backup capable of only 7,500 watts, you'll overload the system and it will show the overload as a fault, asking you to reset the system and "try again". You'll also notice that some of the loads are NOT going to take up all of our 7,500 watt capacity (water heater, dryer, washing machine). So, can you run THESE loads when you're on battery backup? Short answer? Yes. Longer answer: carefully, and only recommended during daylight hours when the sunshine is hitting your solar panels. These loads on their own will run just fine, but if the sun is down and your only source of energy is coming from the batteries, you will deplete the batteries in a matter of hours. This is opposed to sunlight hours when the sunshine is getting converted to watts by the solar panels and then directly feeding these loads. During daylight hours, the battery bank merely acts like a shock absorber, delivering instantaneous power to start things up, but then letting the solar panels and the rest of the system take over and run the loads without using your battery. The other thing to be mindful of is what you're trying to run at the same time: You could run your water heater, the microwave, your 1,000 watts of outlet loads, and your lights - but not the well. You could run the clothes dryer, outlets, and microwave, but not the water heater or well at the same time. You could run the washing machine, water heater, and outlets, but not the well or clothes dryer at the same time. I could go on and on, but what I'm trying to establish here is: all things in moderation. Don't try to pretend that you have the same amount of unlimited power available to you when you're running on your batteries (like you would when the electric grid is online). The fancy term here for the nerds (like me) is: load-shedding. And it's exactly what it sounds like: you should shed unnecessary loads (ie: turn them off) when you're not using them (with the noted exception of your fridge and freezer - don't turn those off!). And...yes... There's a bit of "magic combination" involved here - meaning you can mix and match loads and run them together, but in general, you won't be able to run everything at the same time. Now it's time for the reality: How LONG can I run my loads when I'm on battery backup? Well kids, this math is a LOT easier: Your battery / battery bank is usually rated in kilowatt-hours (kWh). The Q.Home+ battery bank is either 13.5 kWh or 18.9 kWh. So, now we need to explore: what IS a kilowatt hour? Simply stated, a kilowatt-hour is 1,000 watts used for 1 hour. Our friends who use the metric system are very aware that "kilo" is the designator for 1,000 - so one kilowatt-hour is (as previously stated) 1,000 watts used for one hour. Final time: if we refer back to the Solar+Battery Backup blog I wrote previously, I tried to help establish that the battery bank is nothing more than a "gas tank" where we store our fuel. The bigger the gas tank, the longer it lasts, right? Let's use the above mentioned 13.5 kWh battery bank and convert it into watts: 13.5 kWh battery bank = 13,500 watts of power for ONE hour. Now if we look at the OUTPUT of our inverter when we are running on batteries, we know that it's capable of giving us 7,500 watts of power, but for how long? Well, if we divide 13,500 watts of stored power (in our battery bank) by the maximum output of the inverter, we see that the battery bank will last for about 1.8 hours! That's not inspiring, is it? Nope - it's not. So how and why is Josh telling me and others that I could make it for days or weeks on batteries? Well, even though you're now nervous about that low number of 1.8 hours, just remember - you sleep at night and don't usually use a lot of power. The fridge and freezer will cycle on and off as needed (usually 15 minutes for every hour). Your cell phone won't use a lot of power overnight to recharge, and the lights are off, so in general, you won't tax your battery too much overnight. You'll usually wake up in the morning, see that the battery has been drawn down overnight, and watch it recharge from your solar panels during the day while those solar panels are also doing double duty to run your loads during the day as well. Additionally, you'll be very surprised to learn that (in general) when you're not doing big things like washing clothes or dishes (or running your hot water heater), your average consumption is usually less than 1,500 watts at any given time. If you have a sufficient amount of solar panels attached to your battery system (don't worry - we'll make sure you've got what you should need), then the solar panels will MORE THAN handle your average loads during the day while also having more than enough power to simultaneously recharge your batteries. The truth here is that the size of your battery bank becomes less important as your ability to load-shed and manage your loads/do your tasks during daylight hours improves. During the day, your battery bank is a shock-absorber, helping out to start large-demand loads - then handing off the running demand of those loads to the solar panels. At night, the battery bank is your life-boat: it's your only source of power and should be treated with care so you don't wake up with a dead battery (and no way to make coffee!). The summary here is this: A battery backup is no different than a similar sized generator. You'll be able to run some loads, but maybe not EVERY load you want (like central AC or central heat). The gas tank on the generator is just like your battery bank - it will last a certain amount of time depending on how much load your putting on it. The more diligent you are with your loads, the longer the gas tank (aka: battery bank) will last. The other take-away here is that we look at how many things might start and run at the same time to make sure you're not overloading your system when you're on battery backup. BUT! Just because our list above shows 7,880 watts doesn't mean all of those loads are running non-stop. In fact, none of them are. Your well might run for 15 minutes a few times a day. Your microwave? Five minutes a day? Maybe? You get the idea. This means that even though we're trying to set proper expectations, it doesn't mean you're going to only have a few hours of backup when the power-grid fails. Far from it. And like I said, with some diligence and knowledge, you can be running on battery backup for weeks without issue. The best part of a solar array with battery backup is this: you get to use sunshine and light to refill your battery bank (aka: the gas tank). This means no more messy spills when you're refilling the generator's gas tank, no more exhaust fumes when it's running, and it's SILENT! The benefits of a battery bank system are amazing (and I've found that - after owning one - I'll likely never be without one again - they are that impressive). I hope "Powering Your Home with Solar and Battery Backup: What Can I run (and for how long) in Portland, OR" has helped you. So...is battery backup with solar for you? Find out more and give us a call at (503) 857-0099!

So...you're in the market for a solar installation. You've seen a TON of targeted ads telling you that the government will pay for your install and...and...and... But the most compelling ad you might have seen tells you that you can spend LESS on solar than you do for your current electric bill! Too good to be true? Well, that depends... I guess I'd ask you if you care about how and where your money gets spent. The truth is, these loans are real. But please bear in mind that it is a long term loan and how they get you down to an interest rate that is barely above zero deserves a lot of your attention. Full disclosure: DPI Solar has offered these loans in the past, but we partnered with a very reputable lender and we always disclosed how the loan worked. After several years (and no takers on these loans due to our transparency) we no longer support or offer these loans as they feel (to me) predatory and misleading. So...ready for a little dose of reality? Good! Cuz here we go: The "lower payment than your electric bill" loan works like this: First - you have the price your installer is going to charge you: this is the "cash price" of your project. Next, you have your "lower payment than your electric bill" loan. This loan has (historically) been a very low interest rate (0.99% - 1.49%). The loan term of this loan is long (25 years). You're probably thinking that the loan term is how we get so low, but the question you should ask yourself is: How/why would a lender "settle" for so little interest over the course of 25 years (when a basic savings account would possibly generate more income over the same amount of time for the lender)? The answer? They AREN'T settling at all. In fact, they are making more money off of your loan than a much higher interest rate loan (5% over 15 years). You're not buying this, are you? Because Josh says "math wins MOST arguments, right? And the math doesn't work here! Well, what nobody has told you (that is trying to get you to buy into this loan) is that the installer (DPI Solar or otherwise) gets charged a "dealer fee" from the lender. This fee is justified (by the lender) as a fee to use/offer their loans. But if you were to call the lender and ask them what their fees are or if there is an origination fee on their end, they will slyly tell you "No! We don't have fees on our loans!" - which is a partial truth. You see, they deduct their fee from the total payment to the installer once the project wraps up. So in essence, they don't charge the fee to you - the installer is adding it in - and the lender is deducting their fee from the amount paid to the solar installer. So, how much are these fees? Take a look below and you'll see how much they can be for various loans at different loan lengths (I've omitted the lender name, but these are the fees we were charged for these loans). Also, I'm going to list the cash price of this project at $30,000 (so you can compare it the final loan price) Total Loan Amount Cash Price: $30,000 Dealer Fee: (ie: "day two payoff amount") S...T 5-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate: 17.99% ($6,580) $36,580 S...T 10-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate: 20.99% ($7,969) $37,969 S...T 15-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate: 23.99% ($9,468) $39,468 S...T 20-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate: 27.99% ($11,660) $41,660 S...T 25-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate: 30.99% ($13,471) $43,471 Now, before we go any further (and it should scare you that the "day two" payoff of your 25 year loan is $13,471 HIGHER than the "cash price" of your project) I need to explain something that I learned the "hard way": How banks calculate their amounts on loans when a dealer fee is attached to it. Well, if you have your calculator out (and we use the 25 year loan listed above), you will be inclined to perform the following math: Cash price ($30,000) x (30.99%) = Dealer Fee (in $). In this scenario, you'd estimate the "dealer fee" to be: $9,297 - yet the amount shown above is way higher ($13,471), but why? Well folks, when I used one of these loans for the first time, I learned (the hard way) that banks don't calculate their fees the same way I did (which is the above method). So how does their math work? It's like this: You have a fee of 30.99% You subtract 30.99% from 100% - and you get a new number: 69.01% The lender then takes your "cash price" and divides it by: 69.01% So the formula to calculate this fee is: $30,000 / 0.6901 = $43,417 - which translates into a dealer fee of $13,471. So, how did I "learn the hard way" about this calculation? Well, yours truly made the mistake of using the wrong method to calculate the "total loan amount" for a project that a customer wanted to use this loan for. So, did the lender take a lower fee out of the total loan amount because I messed up? Nope. They just paid us less than our cash price quoted for the project and took their full dealer fee out of the loan to pay themselves. Hopefully, that little example of how I messed up should somewhat clarify how these loans work: The lender pays the installer the "cash price" of the loan (when they distribute the money) and they keep the "dealer fee" for themselves. So, where are we now? We have a low interest rate, a low payment, and a huge dealer fee. What's the drawback? Well, in my opinion, the drawback is the "day two" payoff value of the loan. What do I mean by "day two" payoff value? Well, I see loans in two ways: 1) the amount you finance 2) the amount you will owe to pay it off (early) The day after you sign the paperwork (ie: day two) - you will need to come up with the total amount of the loan to pay it off (less as time goes by and you pay down the principle). If you used one of these clever loans, then your payoff includes the "dealer fee". So, on a $30,000 project, your day-two payoff on a 25 year loan with 0.99% APR would be $43,471. What are your options (and what does DPI Solar bring to the table in lieu of these very popular, though misunderstood loans)? Well, if your project's cash price is $30,000 and you want to finance this amount of money, we will point you towards Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union (aka PSCCU). They have a solar loan with a meager $220 fee to originate the loan. If you're doing the math, that means you can get financing for this same project for a total loan value of $30,220 (instead of $43,471). The nuances of each of these loans are different, but what I like to show our customers is the total cost to them after they take the loan to full term and pay it off. PSCCU's loans are up to 15 years and carry a 5% interest rate. The total cost of that loan after 15 years (for a $30k project) is $39,930 S...T's 25-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate will have a total cost to you (after you've paid it off in year 25) of $47,158 PSCCU's "day two" payoff: $30,220 S...T 25-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate "day two" payoff: $43,471 Remember - Oregon does not allow any lender to charge unpaid interest on loans paid off before their end-date (ie: there are no "pre-payment" penalties on any loans originated in Oregon - they're not allowed). So the "day two" payoff really does matter to our customers. Finally - the tempting "lower than electric bill" payment - how are they calculating the payment for the "S...T 25-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest Rate" loan? This loan breaks down into TWO actual loans: 1) 70% of loan value is used to calculate the low monthly payment payment at the term (25 years) and interest rate (0.99%) 2) 30% "Tax Credit Loan" which is 30% of the total loan value and is a secondary loan (usually a 0% interest for "one tax season") If the 30% seems a bit convenient, you're not wrong: it's equal to your tax credit (that most customers get back in the form of a "tax refund"). The catch here is that this type of loan requires you to repay the 30% loan with this refund. If you fail to repay it, the consequences can be severe (including penalties for unpaid interest, a higher interest rate associated with the 30% loan that kicks in under non-payment, and blending your low interest loan with the second loan). If you do end up failing to repay the 30% Tax Credit Loan, the lender will roll that loan into the main loan (and blend the two interest rates). The result of non-payment is a substantially higher loan amount with a much higher monthly payment. PSCCU's loan does not require you to apply your tax refund to their loan...but... If you do choose to apply your refund to their loan, then they will re-amortize your loan to reflect a "balloon payment" made on the loans' principle. Doing this will result in a lower monthly payment for the remainder of the loan term. You could look at their loan as similar in function to the "S...T 25-Year Loan @ 0.99% Interest" loan, with the noted exception that PSCCU seemingly operates their loan in reverse: you start out with a higher monthly payment and have the OPTION to lower your payment by applying your tax refund to the loan in the first 18 months. We like companies like PSCCU for the fact that they are choosing to approach our industry with the same values and designs that they would for any other loan they offer. There's nothing super special about their loan - they make money on the interest yet they will originate the loan for a very low fee. DPI Solar stopped representing the other types of loans because once we figured out what was "behind the curtain", we realized we'd never use these loans ourselves, so why would we ask our customers to use it? They end up costing you more money, they have awful penalties for non-payment of the "tax credit loan" and in the end, they are 10 years longer than other options on the market. Math wins most arguments, right? Unless you just have to have that super low interest rate (which, by now I hope you don't feel that way, because you're paying up front - significantly - for that "bragging rights" low interest rate), we think you will be better served to listen to a few other options you have that will save you a ton of money and make the "day two" payoff literally thousands of dollars less! That way, should you sell your home before the loan term ends, part of your profit will go to pay off the solar loan. Wouldn't you rather have a much smaller payoff when that day comes? Hence the term "day two" payoff :) Thanks for reading. We hope this helps pull back the curtain on some of these loans. Call us at (503) 857-0099 if you have more questions!

Hello again - and here we are, talking about what DPI Solar is seeing lately in the industry and how it works or impacts your choices to adopt some (or all of this tech). Let's chat about Batteries with solar power - and what it REALLY means for most of our adopters here in Oregon. First things first - Battery Backup with solar - what is it and how does it work? Well folks, I've spent a fair amount of time trying to de-tangle and easily explain this tech to our customers, and this is where I landed: Solar with Battery Backup is very similar to having a generator (like what you'd buy from the store - that runs on gas). So, how's it similar you ask? Well, some of you already own a portable generator. Maybe you purchased it for your home in the event of a power outage? Maybe you purchased it to travel with and camp with? Maybe you use it when you're tail-gating at your favorite college football game? Who knows WHY you purchased it, but nonetheless, SOME of you folks already own one. It's VERY likely that when you went out to buy a generator, the FIRST thing you looked for was its output - and this is a number that is represented in WATTS. Typically, a generator is listed by it's PEAK output (as opposed to continuous output). So... a 10,000 watt generator is capable of providing 10,000 watts (for a short period of time). Next - that same generator has a listed CONTINUOUS output rating (this is a smaller number than the advertised size of the generator). Typically, a generator can provide about 80% (of it's PEAK) output, continuously. So a 10,000 watt generator can usually offer the user 8,000 watts continuously - until the gas tank runs out. Finally, this same generator will have listed "run-times" for various levels of use: Typically, one tank of fuel will offer 8 hours of run-time at 50% continuous load (so if you're still with me, that generator will run for 8 hours will be providing 4,000 watts of output). This same label usually indicates how long the fuel will last if it's under "full continuous load" - and for our generator, that is 4 hours total run-time at 8,000 watts. Still with me? GOOD! Because what I'm about to do is take something you know (and might even already own) and use it to explain and help you understand how a solar array with a backup battery system works! READY? OK. First - let's just forget about the solar portion of the "Solar with battery backup" - because I'll later explain what the "solar" piece is (in relation to our generator we just discussed above). Now we are talking about JUST the battery backup components for your project (which Solar DOES attach to!) So... what do we have first? Well, most systems on the market are comprised of three basic components: 1) Hybrid Inverter (with automatic transfer switch) 2) Auto-Transformer (depending on the brand, this is sometimes integral to the hybrid inverter - and other times, it's a separate component) 3) Battery bank So, looking at #1 above, what is it and how is it similar to a generator? The hybrid inverter is the piece that will determine the output of your system (in watts). Much like a generator, there are several brands and each is listed for its CONTINUOUS output. So just like a 10,000 watt generator (with an 8000 watt continuous output rating), our hybrid inverters are listed in the same way - but pay attention! Because THESE inverters typically have TWO output ratings: a) GRID-TIED(!) output - which is how much power the inverter will generate when it's connected to a live electrical grid (this is NORMAL operation) b) OFF-GRID(!) output - which is how much continuous power the inverter can make when the grid fails The second output rating is the one that is exactly like the generator we discussed above! Let's use the Q.Home+ ESS 8.6kW Hybrid inverter as our example: a) when the GRID IS ON and your solar array is feeding your home (or the power company when you're making excess power, via net metering) this inverter will output a maximum of 8,600 watts b) when the GRID IS OFF and your solar array is feeding the house loads (in off-grid mode), this inverter will offer you 7,500 watts of continuous output power This part of the comparison has now equated the hybrid inverter output to a generator output - so our hybrid inverters are much like the motor/generator combo on your gas generator: they both have a rating in watts (which is how much power you can expect to have when the systems are running.) So... onto #2 for our comparison: the auto-transformer. This gizmo is what is responsible for creating the correct voltage for your home to use. In our case the auto-transformer will output 240 volts (120 per phase), which is exactly like the power you're buying from the power company for your home. It's important to know (at this point) that some generators are 120v generators and others are 240v (120/phase). If some of my readers here (that already have a generator) are following me up to this point, then it might be worthwhile to look at your generator to see what the output is (typically, a generator with an output over 3,000 watts is usually a 240 volt generator). So - which part of our comparison is the auto-transformer similar to a generator? Well, it's the actual generator piece of the equipment that is exactly like the auto-transformer: as the gas motor turns the generator, it will output either 120 volts or 240 volts, depending on what you buy. Our auto-transformers are designed to create a perfect 240 volt grid for your home so that you can use some (or all of your appliances - more on that in a later blog post). Our auto-transformer converts your battery (or solar power) - which is stored or generated in a DC voltage - into AC power for your home. Finally - onto #3 - the battery bank. Remember when we talked about the "gas tank" on a generator? Well...that is exactly what your battery bank is: the gas tank. The bigger the tank, the longer the run-time. The smaller the bank, the less run-time you can expect. The battery side of these systems is (honestly) "mutually exclusive" from the rest of the system (even when the batteries are sold and installed as a single unit - with all of the other above mentioned parts housed in the same enclosure. Some battery systems allow you to choose different sizes of battery banks - but be very mindful of what that means! If your sales advisor is unfamiliar with how these systems work, they might try to lead you to believe that a single battery can run your entire home - but depending on the equipment, you might not even get enough power output to run more than a microwave and refrigerator at the same time. If you'd like to dig deeper on this part, call us! So... where are we? Well, we have a generator that now consists of a hybrid inverter (that turns the power from the batteries and the solar panels from DC to AC). We have an auto-transformer that creates a 240 volt grid for your home. And we have our battery bank (which stores the solar power and allows you to use it - day or night). So... where do the solar panels come into play here? Well, if we're still sticking with the comparison to a generator, then the solar panels are the "gas" that fills up the "gas tank" (ie: battery bank). But... Here's where a solar array with battery backup SHINES (pun intended): When the sun is shining on your solar panels, you don't usually use much (if any) of your battery storage. In fact - with a properly designed system, your solar panels will usually give you enough power to BOTH power your needs (during a grid failure) AND recharge your batteries (from their overnight consumption). This means that (unlike a gas generator), your system will offer you similar outputs to a large portable generator, while not using up the batteries DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS (unlike a gas powered generator that starts burning your FINITE fuel supply the moment you start and run it). If you are diligent about your electricity consumption (while you're off-grid) you can go for days or weeks with your system - using minimal power after sunset, and using substantial power during the daylight hours. We know - because the first battery bank system we installed is still running our office, day-in, day-out without any noticed power outages in the last several YEARS. But... remember - if the battery bank is like a gas tank on a generator, then when it runs out of power, you're out of power, too! So...use good judgment when the power fails and you'll have plenty to get you through days and days of power outages. Here's the most special thing about a battery bank: unlike a gas tank on a generator, our fuel supply is...SOLAR PANELS!!! I told you I'd get there eventually! That's right - the gas IS the solar panel power! Which means having a battery backup (with solar panels) is like having an open tap to the gas station. Your solar panels will "refill" your batteries (instead of you needing to hike a bunch of gas cans into your car and run to the local gas station). FUN FACT: Did you realize that if power is out in your neighborhood, then that means that power is likely also out at your neighborhood gas station? That means their pumps aren't pumping, either. So if you DO run out of fuel for your gas generator, you'll need to drive to the nearest gas station to get fuel (and hope they haven't run out due to supply demands). This is another reason to consider a solar array with battery backup included: your "gas" supply is coming from sunlight and solar panels, filling up your tank (your battery bank). Well - I KNOW this is a lot to read. I've spent years explaining this in person and over the phone, but putting it in writing where it is concise and relays the same message was a bit more challenging than verbally explaining it out loud. I hope that you now have more of an understanding of how these items work with your solar panels and where the advantages live. Call us at (503) 857-0099 if you have any questions about Solar + Storage 101: Basic Battery Backup Parts!

With the recent uptick in interest in Electric Vehicles (EV’s), it’s a natural question to discuss how adding an EV to your home or work fleet will impact your electricity consumption. All a person needs to consider is how adding ANY electrical appliance to your home/workspace will impact your bill from the power company. It’s pretty easy to conclude that adding something that uses electricity to your property will increase your electric bill. But how much? The answer to “how much” really boils down to the driver of the EV. Lots of miles per year equals more charging. More charging equals more electricity used. More electricity used means higher bills. Pretty straight forward, right? But…you ask…how MUCH higher will my bill be? To answer this without “painting myself into a corner”, I’m going to use some “averages” that can be found among most electric vehicle blogs/tech specs/reviews/etc. 1) A typical driver will put approximately 10,000 miles (per year) on their vehicle 2) A typical EV will get approximately four (4) miles per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity If we divide 10,000 miles by four (miles per kilowatt-hour), we get a total of 2,500 kilowatt-hours of energy used to drive 10,000 miles per year. The total increased cost that you will see shown on your electric bill will depend on how much your local electric company is charging you for your power (per kilowatt-hour). Portland General Electric represents their Residential (and small commercial) electricity rate at 13.5¢/kWh sold. If we multiply the 2,500 kWh needed (to drive 10,000 miles per year) by our local utility rate, we come up with an added expense (per year) of $337.50 You read that right: it will cost you roughly $337.50 per year to drive 10,000 miles per year with an EV that is averaging 4 miles per kilowatt-hour of battery storage. That’s amazing! I know – I drive a Hyundai Kona EV with a 64kWh battery. These numbers (based on my experience) are conservative (which makes me a VERY happy owner!). So…you’ve decided that an EV is in your future – and while you’re at it, why not stop paying your electric bill to the power company? So you decide that a solar array on your property is also in the cards. How (you ask) can the solar array charge your car so that you don’t pay for that power from the local electric company? To understand this effectively, we must establish the basic functionality of grid-tied solar. If you’ve come to this blog, my guess is that you’re familiar with solar, hence the reason your search found this blog post, so I’m going to assume a few basics: 1) You understand how solar power is generated (sunlight hits the panels, magic happens, electrons move, and DC power is generated) 2) You understand that DC power (like what we find in batteries) is not the same as AC power that we use to power our homes or commercial properties 3) You understand that we must convert the DC power from solar panels into AC power that can be used on the property (or sold back to the electric company for a credit – ie: net-metering). If we establish these basics about solar power, then we can skip to the good stuff: how your power is “stored” (with a grid tied solar installation) and how your solar power is used (when the sun is shining). So: How does solar power that you generate on your property get used? Well – it works like this: the power flows from your roof (or ground mounted solar array), through the necessary equipment to convert it to AC power (for your property) and it then is connected at your main electrical panel. From this connection, the power (when the sun is shining) will go to one of two places: 1) Into your property – as needed. If your solar panels are making power and your property is using power, then the solar panels will meet the needs of the property and stop the electric company from selling you THEIR power 2) If – on the other hand – the sun is shining and your solar panels are making power, but your property is not using any of it (think of an office space on Sunday – nobody’s there and yet the sun is shining and your solar panels are making power) – then the power will instead go BACKWARDS through the electric meter (turning it BACKWARDS and getting you credit) and onto the electric company’s power lines – flowing into your neighbors’ property instead. Hopefully the above two options (for how the power flows into your property) will help you understand a very basic premise of how solar panels will “charge” your EV: they technically don’t, yet they DO. Follow me here: The solar panels are going to produce power (and turn your meter backwards) whether your car is plugged in (or not). When they turn the meter backwards, you’re getting credit from the electric company (in kWh’s). Most of us drive our car to work, then come home at night and plug in the car (after the sun has already gone down). This means that the charge for the car is coming from the electric company, right? Yup. That’s right – but… …During the day (when you were at work), the solar panels turned your electric meter backwards all day (while you were gone) and ended up putting a lot of credits on your meter (for you to use at night when the sun doesn’t shine). So even though you’re using the electric company’s power to charge your car back up, you’re ACTUALLY using up credits that your solar panels generated during the daytime. So by the time you get your electric bill, odds are (if DPI Solar did their job), you’ve generated as much power as your property uses. And the electric vehicle’s power came right from the credits your system created during the day while you were at work. So… what if you had DPI Solar design and install a solar array on your property BEFORE you purchase an EV? Well, again, if we did our job properly, we designed a system that would use “net metering” to adequately cover your electric bill all year long (the excess credits generated during the summer will “roll over” into the winter months – when the solar panels generate far less power per month than they do in the summer). So…if we designed your solar array to meet your needs BEFORE an EV purchase, then you could expect to start paying an electric bill again once you add the EV electricity consumption to the property (≈ $337.50 per year total). Can you add more solar panels to offset this additional usage? You bet! ( I say this cautiously because some of our customers use every available inch of their roofs for solar, leaving them less room in the future to expand for new use like an EV). Now let’s summarize: 1) Electric Vehicles plug into your home just like your other electric appliances do 2) Electric Vehicles will increase your electricity consumption, thereby also increasing your electric bill 3) Grid-tied solar panel installations generate power when the sun is shining and will turn your meter backwards if the property’s power consumption is less than the power production of the solar panels (minute-to-minute). 4) Turning your meter backwards (via Net Metering) will create a bill credit for you (in kilowatt- hours – kWh) 5) When you plug your car in at night, your kWh credits (created during the day by your solar panels) will offset the kWh’s used to charge the car back up 6) Folks who already have solar panels on their roof will likely need to add more panels to offset their new additional use if they add an EV to their property. Finally – for those folks out there who are going to ask about charging up their cars with a battery-bank solar array: The answer is complex, but still YES – though you won’t be able to utilize your Level 2 (240v) charger to charge your car from the solar powered battery bank. You’ll need to use your Level 1 charger during these times as the majority of hybrid solar inverters (that will allow you to add a battery bank to your property) have a limited output (rated in watts) when they are in “off-grid” operating mode. A typical Level 2 Charger pulls no less than 6,000 watts (which is more power than the Tesla PowerWall can continuously output – at the time of this writing (9/2022). This means that in order for you to charge your car and not over-load your off-grid hybrid inverter, you’ll need to do so SLOWLY with your Level 1 charger. Is this tedious and takes time? YUP. But… consider than anyone else who doesn’t have a hybrid inverter with battery backup won’t be able to charge their car at all! Some of our hybrid inverters CAN handle a Level 2 EV charger (Q.Home ESS+ G1: output 7,500 watts, Outback Power Radian 8048A: output 8,000 watts). So…if you have one of our inverters, should you consider trying to charge your EV up with your Level 2 charger? In my opinion – no. The reason is, doing so will take up all of the available output power of these systems (in off-grid mode) and not leave you any power in reserve to run lights and plugs on your property. If you ended up deciding to do this, you’ll likely end up in an “over-load” situation on your hybrid inverter. It will shut down and wait for you to “shed” some of the loads that contributed to the over-load situation. Also consider the size of the EV battery versus your battery backup you have on your property. In all likelihood, the EV battery is substantially larger than the battery you have backing up your property loads. This means that if you decided to try to charge up your EV at night from ONLY the battery bank, you WILL end up completely draining the battery bank and you’ll only partially re-charge your car. The lesson here (for our OFF-GRID charging folks) is to charge up your car when the sun is shining so that the power from solar panels (and not the battery bank) goes into your car’s battery. This will keep your backup battery charged and ready to handle the loads your property will throw at it during the day or night! Well folks – this was a complex and challenging subject to address, but as we see more of our customers buying both of these products (three if you counting our battery backup options), it’s important that all involved understand how the power is generated, where it goes when you plug in your car, and if you should try to charge your car up from your backup battery when the electric grid is down. Thanks for reading "Should I plan on Extra Solar Panels when I buy an EV" and feel free to contact us any time. Josh, DPI Solar

Well… here I am, back at it – trying to share what we’ve learned over the last 15 years as a solar contractor in the northwest. One of the most obvious questions we get about solar is: Does Solar Work in Oregon? And Is a Solar Installation worth it in the Pacific Northwest? Well, my friends, in a nutshell – solar is a viable investment wherever the sun shines in this country. Here are some quick facts to consider when questioning the viability of solar in the Northwest or Oregon: 1) Germany has been and continues to be one of the largest adopters of solar power in the world. They currently sit at #4 in total solar wattage installed a. Germany’s latitude is roughly equal to the Aleutian Islands that comprise the island chain spreading away (to the west) off ALASKA b. Germany’s annual rainfall is 31” per year (a little drier than Oregon who sits at 41” per year). 2) Japan also has been and continues to be another large adopter of solar power in the world. They currently hold the #3 spot for total solar wattage installed a. Japan is a very tropical country (it sits near the same latitude as California, yet the island itself sees substantial rainfall every year due to regional weather patterns. b. Japan’s annual rainfail is 40” per year (which is exactly on par with Oregon’s annual rainfall). 3) Fun fact: The HOTTER a solar cell gets, the lower it’s power output. a. You read that right – solar cells aren’t a big fan of hot weather. What this means is that a more temperate climate is actually better suited for solar than the hot deserts of our southern states 4) Final fun fact: The best place for solar production annually in the U.S. is none other than Colorado. a. Colorado has (on average) 300 days of sunshine per year b. Colorado’s average temperature year-round is 43.5° c. The state is cold, and the weather is clear – which in turn creates a heck of a good place to install solar panels. If we were to use rainfall and latitude on the map as the base-line for solar being a good fit for an area, then neither of these two countries (mentioned above) would end up in the top spots for adoption, yet there they are – still hovering in the top five for total solar installed. So… what gives? Well, incentives in these countries (past and present) really helped to jump-start the industry there. But even with heavy subsidies, the technology wouldn’t continue to be a preferred alternative energy source if the results didn’t measure up. And that’s where we find ourselves in the Pacific Northwest: 1) We get plenty of rain 2) We don’t get as much sunlight per year as the southern states (think Texas, California, Florida, Arizona) 3) Our power is still reasonably priced in comparison to other parts of the country So…why did your neighbors install solar on their home? In a word: Proactive. What I’ve found as a common theme with the thousands of customers we’ve had in 15 years is this: They all seem to be proactive in one way or another, whether it’s financially motivated (locking in their cost of electricity forever), or maybe environmental (they want to continue to lessen their footprint on the environment by sourcing their power from a renewable resource – the sun). Whatever their proactive purpose is, they all have one. Even here in the northwest (where the monsoon season starts in November and sometimes goes all the way into June), our customers always find a proactive reason to adopt solar. So how did your neighbor’s system perform over the course of the year? Well, if they had DPI Solar as their installer, then they met the goals they set forth when they started down the path to solar. Most of my customers want to delete their kilowatt-hour dependence (completely) from their electric company. DPI Solar’s customers (on average) delete 99% of their electric bill when they adopt solar as part of their home’s culture. So…how do they do it? Again – it’s just math my friends. We already know that Colorado is a rock-star state to install solar panels in, so if it’s so great (and the Pacific Northwest isn’t as great), then how are people in Oregon getting the same results as someone in Colorado? Again – math. The process of going solar all starts with a site-visit and a solar production analysis. What we are trying to determine (when we start working with you) is: How good is your property at seeing the sunshine? Once we figure out how good your property is at seeing the sunshine, we want to maximize those spots. We do this by creating a 3-D model of your property that includes the trees and anything else that might shade your property. We then plug in our software to model your property for efficiency and output from the solar panels we’ve “virtually” installed on your property. This model includes a weather data set (6.25-mile x 6.25-mile grid) from your GPS location as well as a Sandia Model for Temperature prediction and finally a Perez Model for transpositional data to account for your home’s angle of incidence to the sunshine available at its location on the earth. Whew! That’s a LOT of big words, right? So… how does the Pacific Northwest compare to Colorado? Well… by the time we take everything just mentioned into account, we will find that (here in the Northwest) we’ll need to install a few more solar panels on our rooftops to meet our goals of 100% offset than our friends in Colorado need to install to meet the same power production goals per year. What’s a few? Roughly 15% more solar panels here than the same project would need in Colorado to generate the same amount of power per year. And there’s your answer – Solar in the Northwest is a predictable, quantifiable asset that (when properly designed and installed) will generate the power you’re looking for. We just need to install more here than we would elsewhere in the country. Yes – you’re right – we will need to sell you more solar panels, but the flip-side is that the cost to go solar here in Oregon (per watt) is actually lower than it is in California, New Jersey, or Hawaii. You can thank a competitive industry and lower wages for that! So… now that we’ve rambled through the weeds and find ourselves looking for a conclusion, here’s what I can tell you: 1) Solar in the Northwest and in Oregon does meet the consumer expectations so long as the installer they work with is providing them with detailed analysis of their property’s ability to turn sunlight into electricity. 2) Because of the wetter weather here, well end up installing a few more solar panels to meet our needs than we would in sunny Southern California (or Colorado!) 3) The nice temperate temperatures of the northwest and Oregon are actually very favorable to solar production – so when we have a nice beautiful sunny day at 75° here (and the southern states are cooking at over 100°) our solar panels will produce more power that day (per watt) than the ones in the hot states 4) Our wages and costs of products here in the Northwest is usually less than the wages and cost of installations down in states like California. So your net spend for a project that would produce 10,000 kWh of power per year will actually be less here in Oregon (even with more solar panels) than you’d find for a project producing the same amount of power in Hawaii, California, New Jersey, or Florida. So…Does solar work here in the Northwest and in Oregon? You Bet. Will you need to install more solar panels in a wetter climate than you would in a drier climate? Yup. Does it make financial sense to take this leap? Honestly my friends – I will always say: Yes…but… We want to help you understand what you’re buying and what you are getting for your money. If the goal is to stop buying kilowatt-hours of power from the utility, we can help. If the goal is to have some backup power when the electric grid fails, we can help. If the goal is to stop the rate increases from the electric company, we can help And finally – if the goal is to leave a legacy of environmental stewardship for your loved ones, we can help. Thanks for reading "Do Solar Panels work well in the Pacific Northwest" and as always – call me if you have any questions. Josh

So, you've decided to take the next steps in energy independence by installing a new solar array on your property. You're actively shopping and looking for the right contractor to complete the work. You're curious about the process to install a solar array on your property. You're likely asking several of the following questions: 1) How do I get started on this process? 2) What is entailed in this process? 3) How much is it going to cost? 4) How long will it take to go from bid to power production? 5) Why do some companies not even bother showing up to my home before they bid a project? 6) I've picked my contractor, but we haven't started the install yet - what's taking so long? What you'll not be aware of is the amount of time we spend "cutting the red tape" so-to-speak to take your project from idea to approved design by no less than four different agencies. Most diligent contractors won't start your project until it's received all of it's necessary approvals which include state and local incentive programs, interconnection to the power company's electrical grid, net metering approval from the electric company so that your extra power turns into bill credits for you to use in the winter months, engineering (as needed), and permits - always required. Starting your project before all of these things are approved could mean your price could change due to no incentive awarded all the way to the project could be deemed non-viable from the electric company. If you already had your project installed and they deem it non-viable, you now have a solar array sitting on your property that can't be turned on - and that's a bad day for a lot of people - both you AND the contractor who rolled the dice on your project without approvals. The truth is, a solar installation requires patience from the buyer - because cutting the red tape can take as long (and usually MUCH longer) than the actual installation itself. Many of our permitting offices have a backlog of permits and are short on personnel which means a delay (often 6-8 weeks) before they issue your permit. With all of this said, below is the process you can expect when dealing with DPI Solar: Our first step is to schedule an ON-SITE visit with you. We use this time to go through the project and one year of your electric bills. We will look at the mechanical execution of the work (where and how it's going to mount at the property as well as any structural needs/existing conditions that might need addressed before construction). Once we have an idea of the scope and execution of the project, we put together a preliminary bid to show you what to expect from the project insomuch as cost, benefits, incentives from the State, Energy Trust of Oregon, and Federal government. We also walk through the design with you and discuss net metering as well as what percentage of your bill the solar installation will offset. Once that process is complete and the design is acceptable to you, our sales advisor brings the design back to the office where our project manager and/or myself will review the design and make sure nothing was overlooked in the bidding process. We try to avoid change orders during construction and having that final design approval before signing any contracts really helps. Many companies will "blind bid" your project for you without ever stepping foot on your property before asking you to sign a contract. These types of bids will either be more expensive (to ensure any missed details - that would cause a change order - can be absorbed by the price) or their contract will exclude a lot of things "just in case", thus leaving you exposed to potentially expensive change orders. DPI Solar does our level best to ensure that we don't miss the easy details that have cost impacts. Our onsite evaluation process is the first effort at this endeavor. Once the internal review is completed, you'll receive a formal bid via email with some other supporting documents including cut sheets, terms and conditions, and any other details you may have requested be clarified during the onsite evaluation process. If you approve the bid, the next step would be to have us send you our Docusign document via email where both DPI Solar and yourself would digitally sign the contract, terms and conditions. At that time, your bid will be converted into a project where we will begin the paperwork submission process which includes: 1) your application for connecting your solar array to the utility grid 2) your application for receiving power credits for any excess power generation you have during daylight hours (net metering) 3) your application for any local or state incentives (in Oregon, this is currently ODOE's Solar+Storage incentive as well and Energy Trust of Oregon funding - if applicable). 4) submission of your project to our engineering firm (if necessary) 5) submission of your project to our CAD firm to prepare your plans for the permitting process 6) submission of your project to the proper jurisdiction to issue a permit for construction (which includes a structural and electrical permit application) Once all of these processes above are completed (and approved) we will schedule your project for installation. This is a floating date that we try to pin down to a specific week that is dependent on your schedule and availability. The first day of installation will see your parts delivered to the jobsite as well as our installation crew - usually onsite by 7:30. Your installation will progress (ideally) as expected with no modifications to your project (if we did our part, then the design is unlikely to change. Less than 5% of our customers ever see a change order related to our bid). Upon completion of the installation, we will: 1) walk you through the monitoring portal and show you the system working 2) shut the system off while we wait for inspections from the jurisdiction and the utility company 3) collect final payment once the jurisdictional inspections are complete (and BEFORE the utility turns on your system - we want OUR parts to become YOUR parts before the final switch is thrown). 4) deliver via mail or in-person a binder that includes all of your documents, permits, designs, inspections, and invoices. At this point, your project is complete and you're already making power for your property! Hope this thorough explanation about Cutting the "Red Tape" when buying a solar installation is helpful. Josh Kopczynski

Ok… so the last blog was regarding if and when you should consider cleaning your solar panels. Hopefully you got some value out of our experience over the last 15 years of designing and installing these systems. So…part deux? (that’s “two” in French for those who don’t remember the second greatest movie ever made – Hot Shots, Part Deux!) Don’t tell me I’m not worldly. Ok…so what’s the second part of the conversation, you ask? Well, we’ve discussed whether you should have your solar panels cleaned periodically (and the answer was: maybe yes, maybe no – but you should have enough details from the previous post to make that choice). What did we miss on the last post? The rest of the system. That’s what. Your Solar array/installation is comprised of up to six components: 1) The solar panels (duh!) 2) The inverter(s) (either a central string inverter or micro-inverters – you should know what you have for your installation) 3) Module level electronics (optimizers OR rapid shutdown devices) 4) The racking that holds the solar panels 5) Pipe, Wire, and Boxes to get your power from the roof to your home/business 6) Separate AC Combiner panel (combines inverter outputs into one feed to your home or business) So, let’s take these other items piece by piece 1) The Solar Panels – We’ve discussed in the previous post (in detail) if you should consider cleaning these regularly – but if you didn’t read it, just know that geography, regional vegetation, and tilt of the panels all contribute to how well mother nature will clean these for you (or if you should lend her a hand from time to time). 2) The Inverter(s) a. Micro Inverters – these are inverters that are bolted under each solar panel and do their job on your roof. There is nothing to do here. They are protected from the elements by being hidden under the panels which also makes them inaccessible without removing solar panels – so hands off on these babies. b. String inverters (examples are Fronius, Outback Power Radian, SolarEdge, Sunnboy (by SMA), Solectria). These are central inverters that hang either in your garage space or outdoors – depending on your needs at the time of installation. Depending on the brand, you should consider at least vacuuming the dust off of the inverters every six months (Please – for the love of god – resist the urge to use compressed air to blow the dust off the inverters! Imagine if you had something near the corner of your eyeball and I said, “hold on right there while I get my can of compressed are to blow that sucker off your face” – you’d be horrified, right? Well same goes for electronic equipment – you should not blow things into or off of the equipment – because there’s a decent chance you’ll blow the dust and grime further into any openings where it can be detrimental to the equipment longevity). Other than that, just make sure that your string inverter looks mechanically sound and that there’s nothing obviously wrong with it. These inverters tend to be “bullet-proof” – we have inverters from 2008 still making power over a decade later with no issues. They don’t need much more than a wipe-down and/or a vacuum every so often. Vacuum any vent openings and if your inverter has screens/filters over the openings, turn off the inverter and clean the filters. That’s it for this part 3) Module Level Electronics (optimizers or rapid shutdown devices): These products (just like micro-inverters) sit under your solar panels and are inaccessible to you unless you decide to dismantle your solar array. There’s nothing to clean or maintain on these parts and pieces. They either work or they don’t – and because your system has monitoring, you’ll know if they aren’t working pretty soon after they fail. Do they fail a lot? Nope – but I just wanted to make it clear that there’s nothing to do here either. 4) Racking – the backbone of your solar installation. Whether you have a roof mounted system or a ground mounted system, the racking is what keeps the solar panels attached. These parts are made of a variety of materials: Aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized steel. Each of the chosen materials has been designed to minimize or eliminate any “galvanic action” (aka: corrosion) from mixing dissimilar metals together in your system (stainless steel won’t corrode when it comes into contact with aluminum. Same goes for galvanized steel and aluminum). In general, your components that comprise your racking system should also be very maintenance free. If it’s a ground mounted system, the components used were designed for direct contact with the dirt. If it’s a roof mounted system, the components were designed to be lightweight and strong (hence stainless steel and aluminum). Things you should look for regularly (2x per year?) would be debris surrounding your racking system. That means finding a place to stand next to your home (or business) where you can look UNDER the solar array (between the roof and the solar racking system). You want to see daylight and no debris that has been washed under the solar array by mother nature. Other things that we’ve seen happen: the cute lil critters like squirrels and chipmunks LOVE to nest under your solar panels. If you see a cute lil nest – sorry, but it’s time for these squatters to be evicted! They love nothing more than to spend their protected evenings chewing on your solar panel wiring. Is that covered by warranty you ask? Unfortunately, no. We cover what we can control – which is our execution of the installation. Once we have done our job, we stand behind it, but it’s up to you to make sure these cute lil squatters find another place to lay low. If you have a ground mounted solar array, you have vertical posts protruding from the ground that create the structure that the solar panels are attached to. Things to look for regularly are debris collecting around the posts. This isn’t written in the manufacturer’s instructions, but you should spend some time each year making sure that mother nature hasn’t left a deposit of old leaves and grass clippings at the base of your solar panel posts. It’s VERY unlikely to do much (if anything) because these posts are designed to install directly into the dirt which means they were designed to resist water, corrosion, and many other things. Nonetheless, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of regret, right? 5) Pipe, Wire, and Boxes that bring the power from your solar array into your home or business. Good news here – there’s not much to do here either. Your system was installed using weather- appropriate materials designed to be installed where they were installed and resist the pressures mother nature exerts. Much like the wiring in your home or business – there’s really no maintenance here. Unless you see something obviously wrong (a conduit has come apart or a nest of bees has decided to call one of your junction boxes home), then do what you need to do here – paint them if you want (just don’t paint over any labels that were field installed during your solar installation). 6) AC Combiner panels – This is the box with a few sets of circuit breakers (just like your main electrical panel) where we combined the outputs of all your panels into one main output for your home or business. Just like your house electrical panel, there’s nothing to do here. MAYBE remove the cover (if you feel qualified to do so) and vacuum out the dust once a year. But remember – you probably don’t do that for your main electrical panel, and this is just like that one, so if you don’t do anything there, then there’s likely nothing to do here. That’s about it. I think we’ve covered what to expect when your expecting (a solar array installation) insomuch as ongoing maintenance is concerned. If you follow these suggestions (as well as the previous post concerning cleaning your solar panels), then you’re likely to have decades of worry-free operation! Thanks for reading Josh

Catchy title, right? Why on earth would I even suggest that your solar panels don’t require maintenance – or do they? Well…the answer to that question is quite complex – but only if you subscribe to the particle theory of light (wait – didn’t they decide that light was both a wave AND a particle?) GET TO THE POINT MAN!! Ok… so we get this question a lot: Josh, do I need to have your team come to my home (or business) to inspect and/or clean my solar panels regularly? The answer: MAYBE Long ago (in PV solar world terms), solar panel manufacturers used to send us a piece of paper taped to each solar panel. Once you found the correct language you could read, you were introduced to your new solar panels (and their warranty, operation, and “maintenance” requirements). If you had the gumption to wade through the overly-technical description of the product, you landed at a section called “maintenance and cleaning”…and this is what all solar panel manufacturers would tell you: “If you have installed your solar panels with at least a 10° tilt (most home roofs are at least 18° or more) AND your region gets at least 12” of rainfall annually, then there is no need to manually clean your solar panels” I always felt like this was a great introduction into the “what-if’s” part of the discussion: 1) What if I live on a dusty road and the solar panels get that dust? 2) What if I live next to a field that a farmer cultivates each year, and it throws up a lot of dust? 3) What if I come out during the late spring and I see my car is covered with (ugh) pollen? 4) What if… This is where the answer isn’t quite so cut and dry as the manufacturers would have you believe – because if you meet their installation suggestions, then technically you wouldn’t need to clean your panels, right? Well…technically…yes. That is true. And yes, we have customers who do not ever do more than Mother Nature offers to do for free. And this is also where the discussion veers into physics (specifically the physics of light and the science behind solar cells). Fact: Solar panels/cells LOVE the blue and yellow spectrums of light Fact: Solar panels/cells don’t really notice red spectrums of light (including ultra-violet and infrared). What does the color spectrum have to do with cleaning my solar panels, you ask? Well, it matters a lot. It turns out that the human eye loves the red spectrum of light (without red, we wouldn’t notice if the car was dirty with dust). Without red, we might not appreciate the subtle differences in several shades of browns, grays, etc. So ask yourself: what color is the dust on your solar panels? Is it brown(ish)? Gray(ish)? Or is it yellow pollen? And if it’s brown(ish) or gray(ish), I shouldn’t need to clean my panels manually, right? To prove this to myself, I showed up early for Sunday dinner at my parents home several years ago. It was a wonderfully sunny day. Their solar panels should have been blasting out power (and they were). But… They were SO dirty that when I drove up to the home, I couldn’t see the individual cells that make up the solar panel itself – the panels were THAT dirty. So…I broke out the hose and decided to rinse them from the ground. Before I rinsed them off, the system said it was producing 7,700(ish) watts of power. After I rinsed them off (and they dried almost immediately from the heat), the system was producing SLIGHTLY more power (7,800-ish watts of power). And this led me to assess their production report we produced before installing the solar panels (more on that later – but a production report tells us if your home is a good candidate for solar). What I found was that the report estimated roughly a 2% loss in power output per year from “soiling” – and unsurprisingly the math worked out as expected – their system was seeing a small (less than 2%) reduction in power production when the panels were so dirty I couldn’t even see the cells. So…what gives, right? Remember when I said that solar panels love blue and yellow light, but don’t really care about red light? Well, my human eyes saw a “dirty” solar panel because the dirt I was seeing was brown(ish) in color – so to me, they were dirty. But… The solar panels “eyes” (ie: the cells) didn’t seem to notice the same “dirt” that I was seeing. And in that “eureka” moment, I realized that the manufacturers, the science, the reports, and estimates, and real-world trials were lining up with the very simple statement of: “If you have installed your solar panels with at least a 10° tilt (most home roofs are at least 18° or more) AND your region gets at least 12” of rainfall annually, then there is no need to manually clean your solar panels” So…DO you need to clean your solar panels? Sometimes, yes. If you happen to live near a lot of fir trees that produce a lot of pollen (and you notice a yellow sheen of pollen on your solar panels) – then break out the hose and give them a rinse. Nothing special – and ideally you won’t need to do much more than MAYBE get a little higher off the ground (say…on a ladder) so you can get the water onto the solar panels. What if your neighbor tills up his field and it throws a ton of dust onto your solar panels – should you have them cleaned? In my opinion – break out the hose and clean what you can. You WILL notice a power output increase, but in terms of 12-month production, it’s unlikely to move the needle much. What if wild-fires blow and throw a lot of ash onto my solar panels? Should I clean them? In my opinion – yes! But carefully. Anyone who was alive for the Mount St. Helens eruption remembers all of the warnings on the news and in the papers about smearing dust on your beautifully painted car – it would scratch the bejezus out of it! So…carefully my friends! Water only until you get the bulk of the ash off of the panels. Then – if you decide – you can carefully get a squeegee and WATER to complete the cleaning. What about our commercial customers whose panels are less than 18° in tilt? Should they consider cleaning their panels regularly? In my opinion – yes. The slight tilt of the solar panels is not enough to rid the panel of build-up at the bottom edges of the solar panel. We recommend water and/or a squeegee 2x per year (late spring and mid-summer). Cleaning the low-tilt solar panels during these times is usually adequate to keep them producing the expected amount of power per year. So… what about those companies selling fancy “solar panel cleaning kits”? In a single word: DON’T. Don’t buy it, stop reading about it, and don’t let them scare you into the purchase. Solar panels are constructed VERY similar to the windshield of your car. And as such – you should use the same care when cleaning them (as you would your windshield): · NO harsh chemicals · NO hard/stiff brushes · NO scraping with anything more than a rubber squeegee. So…if my solar panels need a “little bit of help” getting clean, are there any products I CAN use? Well my friends – the easiest answer I can give you is this: Biodegradable Dish Soap. Yup. Good old-fashioned Dawn Dish Soap. There’s your “exotic” cleaning agent. If you can clean up wildlife (after an oil-spill) with this stuff – and it’s safe to use on them – then it’s also gentle enough for your solar panels (and the gaskets that surround them (between the metal frame and the glass) but also can offer the extra “help” your panels may need to break down excessive dirt and grime. So… there you have it: most homes and businesses will not need to clean their panels. But if you do, hopefully I’ve given you enough information here to do it simply and without the need to call a company to do it for you! Thanks for reading Josh

Ahh... the dreaded word "inflation". We've all been hearing about it on the news, from our friends and family, and on the internet. Heck - who hasn't heard their elders talk about "how much a gallon of milk or a gallon of gas cost when they were a kid"? And honestly, that's the best perspective one can get or give when trying to understand what inflation really means: a dollar buys less than it used to for a variety of reasons and factors. The reality of inflation is now starting to really set in - especially for many who have retired and aren't adding "more feathers" to their "nest" so to speak. Once the magical retirement date hits, many of us find ourselves always looking at ways to save here or there (because we want to make our retirement accounts stretch for years or even decades). Inflation is the enemy of the retired person. With a fixed amount of money in accounts (that were likely moved to "less aggressive" investment strategies once the retirement date hit), there's only so much to go around and it will only last for so long. And with the money moved to less aggressive investment strategies, the likelihood of large gains (or losses) is minimized. But that safety has a consequence: less risk means less reward (but more security) and as such, substantially less growth of your retirement funds. Inflation is everywhere you look: housing, construction, fuel prices, and next on "Inflation's greatest hits - Part 2022": energy prices. Oregon's two largest electrical utilities will be seeking no less than 4% rate increases this year (PP&L has already applied for a 14% rate increase to homeowners). You're probably guessing where this is going (because some self-serving solar contractor is writing this blog, right)? Honestly - when I think about everything transpiring - I think about my parents. They are in their 70's and have worked very hard (and much longer than age 65) to get to where they are, but regardless of their efforts, I still find myself checking in with them to discuss their retirement accounts and how they're managing their money. And this is where and why I'm writing this today. You see, years ago, I installed solar on their home knowing that this amount of power would effectively "net-meter" them into zero dollars spent per year buying kilowatt-hours from their electric company. I knew that if I could install enough solar on their home to generate 100% (or more) of their annual power needs, that with the magic of net-metering, they'd never need to worry about one part of their retirement again: their electric bill. You see, with net-metering, you get kilowatt-hour credits put on your bill (during the summer months) that "roll over" to the winter months and help offset your bill in those months (when the solar is still working but not as much as it did in the summer). The dips in winter production are filled up with the excess generation from the summer months. And that's what my parents have: enough power generated during the summer months to offset the under-production of their solar panels in the winter months. So what does this have to do with inflation, right? Well, consider this: My parents won't feel the impact of inflationary driven energy costs. EVER. Because when they create their own power (and are given kilowatt-hour credits for their overproduction in the summer months), we have put them in a position where the cost of a kilowatt-hour no longer matters. You see - a kilowatt-hour in the summer is the same volume of power in the winter. Or at night, or during peak cost times. A kilowatt-hour is a kilowatt hour. How much the electric company charges for it does not matter. Because when they use a kilowatt-hour credit at night or during the winter or during a peak-cost timeframe, they are using up a "volume" of power they have as a credit - and not a $$ amount of credit. And THAT (my friends) is how my parents have stopped inflation and rate increases from eating away at their retirement. Yes... their son installed this for them - so they got the family discount. But in real world terms, I have always been someone who looked at what we sell and said "in needs to make CENTS" for our customers. Our average homeowner sees an IRR (internal rate of return on their investment into solar) of 7.5% That means that in average years with average rate increases from your electric company, the investment you made into solar is beating their rate increases by 3% or more per year (it's higher than that when the electric company raises their rates more than the estimated 4% per year). Finally - and this is maybe the easiest way to understand how solar panels stave off energy cost inflation is to look at it like this: 1) with a 4% rate increase per year from the electric company, the averaged cost of power over the next 25 years works out to 20.75 cents per kilowatt hour (current rates being 11.5 cents and rates in 25 years estimated to be 30 cents per kilowatt-hour) 2) after accounting for tax credits and incentives, your cost of power for solar generated power on your roof for the next 25 years is actually LESS than 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour (we get there by dividing the net cost of the system by the estimated power production over the next 25 years). And... because my parents own their system (just like all of our customers), they own the power production as well. And that means that once they had solar installed on their roof, it locked their electricity rates in at LESS than the current rate they were paying. Forever. Thanks for reading. Josh Kopczynski