SunRun is happy to announce that for the first time ever, New Jersey homeowners can go solar for $0 down!  Now, with SunRun, New Jersey homeowners can get their home solar panels installed for free and start saving money immediately with SunRun power plans.

We’re so excited about the news and the fact that now, every New Jersey homeowner who wants home solar can now afford it.  Since SunRun began offering home solar in New Jersey earlier this year, we’ve partnered with trusted, local installers Mercury Solar Systems and Trinity Solar, and signed numerous New Jersey homeowners.  We are confident that this will bring us closer to our mission of making solar affordable to every home in the country.

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a solar installer?  Last Wednesday, I climbed onto the roof of a San Francisco home and found out.  With a team from PetersenDean, one of SunRun’s partners, I was able to witness firsthand the ins and outs of home solar installation.

2:00 pm
I’m on-site by early afternoon.  It has been a rainy week and I was worried the rain would spoil my installation plans, but luckily the skies clear by the time I arrive.  The installation team is headed by lead electrician, Steve, and Javier, the head rooftop installer.  There are three others– Gustav, Eddie, and Leandro.  They are hard at work when I arrive – Steve is in the garage, working on the inverter; everyone else is up on the roof, installing the solar panel mounting system on which the solar panels will rest.

Climbing up onto the roof is quite possibly one of the most frightening experiences in my life.  The ladder seems to go on forever and with each uncertain step, my legs shake.  This particular home has a flat roof, which means the team needs to install a mount rail system in order to place the panels on an angle; lucky for me, this also means that I can stand on flat, solid ground.  The team chuckles at my nervousness.  “You’ll get used to it in a week,” they tell me.

2:30 pm
Gustav starts spreading grey gravel on the bottom of the mounts, in order to disguise the black sealant.  We have to make sure we scrape the gravel off the bottom of our shoes when making our way down the roof, so we don’t slip from the reduced traction.

3:00pm
The next half-hour is dedicated to wiring.  The team guides three different wires – black, white, and copper, through metal poles.  According to Javier, the thick black wire is for the negative connection, white was for positive, and the copper is the ground wire.  It becomes quite complicated after that and I use this time to move away from wiring and ask Javier other questions:

Me: How long have you been a solar panel installer, Javier?
Javier: One and a half years
Me: What were you doing before then?
Javier: I was a supervisor for construction sites.  For 17 years!
Me: Wow, what made you switch? How did you find out about solar installation jobs?
Javier: I looked on the internet. Installing solar panels is a lot less stressful than construction.  This is better.
Me: Well, that’s good – what’s your favorite part of the job?
Javier: Definitely laying out the panels, that’s the best part.  And we get to go everywhere to install panels; I like to travel.  Sometimes in San Francisco, sometimes in Monterey County…  This July, through December, I’m even going to Texas – installing over 400 panels.  It’s going to be a big job.
Me: How long do home solar installations usually take?
Javier: Usually two to three days. Today’s just going to take one or two, though.

The installation team moves quickly and efficiently, occasionally conversing in a mix of English and Spanish.  I observe them with pen, paper, and camera and try to stay out of their way.  They tell me they work on installations every day; I can’t help but think of all the jobs home solar panel installations have created – team manager, lead electrician, roofers, and that’s not even including the jobs created further down the supply chain.

3:30pm
By this time, the winds have chilled and I am freezing.  Clad only in my SunRun long sleeve, I muster up the courage to climb down the ladder and get my fleece sweater, which I had left on the ground level, with Steve.  “Don’t look down,” Eddie yells down.  I can’t help it.

In the garage, Steve is tinkering around with the inverter and we get to talking:

Me: What are you working on right now?
Steve: This here is the inverter.  The electricity from the roof solar panels goes to the inverter, where it’s changed from DC to AC power.  From here, it goes to the SunRun meter.  If something goes wrong, SunRun is the first to know!  Then, they call us.
Me: Do you have solar panels on your roof?
Steve: We don’t right now because we’re trying to move but if we don’t end up moving and stay in our home – we’ll definitely get panels.

4:00pm
Eddie helps me back on to the roof.  He climbs down the ladder and climbs back up with me; I feel slightly foolish for making him go through the trouble.  He tells me he’s been with PetersenDean for fifteen years, starting right after high school graduation.  That’s a long time.

The team has started laying down the panels – Javier’s favorite part!  The panels are dark and slick-looking, 18 in total.  Javier tells me he likes to lay them all flat before screwing them in one by one, so he can measure everything out and align them precisely: “I like them to be super straight.”  Javier is quite the perfectionist.

He has home solar panels, as well, he tells me – has had them for six years now.  I ask him why he decided to get home solar panels and his face glows.  “The bills!” he exclaims enthusiastically, “My electric bill went from $200 to almost $10.”  Javier is from sunny Santa Cruz.

4:30pm:
The installation crew members climb up the ladder with additional panels held over their shoulders.  Quite a feat of strength and balance; move over Cirque du Soleil!  When I express amazement, Leandro laughs, “This is nothing.”  They finally start screwing the panels onto the mount.  I take so many photos that my camera battery dies shortly after I completely use up my memory card.  I shift gears to writing notes.

While Eddie and Javier work on aligning the panels, the others work on connecting the wiring underneath the solar panels.  This is very careful and precise work; talking ceases and silence abounds.  It is cold and quiet and I pull on my hood as the wind starts to blow.

5:00pm
All solar panels are installed, secured, and connected!  Cleanup begins immediately – everyone does his part, cutting excess metal off the edges, picking up loose tools.  Another tucks in the wiring, making sure that not a single wire touches the physical roof.

I bid the solar installers farewell and make my way down the roof, to say goodbye to Steve.  Steve tells me they just need an additional half-day until they are completely done with the installation.  The next step is to complete the wiring from the solar panels to the meter.

I’d only been up on the roof with the solar panel installers for around three hours, but I’m exhausted.  I feel more connected than ever to the solar energy movement now that I’ve seen it in action.  In a matter of hours, solar panels were installed and a regular home was transformed into a clean, green solar home.  And that’s all in a day’s work for a home solar panel installer.

The importance of a clean energy economy was visited time and again in President Obama’s State of the Union address.  With such strong support coming from the White House, we here at SunRun are very excited about what 2010 will bring for solar.  SunRun’s president, Lynn Jurich, spoke to Fox Business on Thursday about the future of the solar energy sector, as well as the hundreds of green jobs the solar industry has been able to create.





Not only has home solar become an affordable option for millions of homeowners, but it has also been able to create clean, permanent jobs.  According to research, for every six homes that goes solar, a green job is created — and that’s not including the other jobs created down the supply line.  And these are jobs created within the nation – here and at present.

Watch the Fox Business clip to hear more about green jobs, federal subsidies, and the future of solar.

SunRun’s newest Colorado customers, Bert and Kendra Prospero, were featured in today’s Denver Post as the first Coloradans to hold a home solar lease.

Interested in installing home solar panels, the Prosperos had been deterred by the high upfront cost.  This all changed when they learned of SunRun’s solar lease program, which has allowed the Prosperos to go solar for $1,000.  With a SunRun solar lease, homeowners can skip the costs, avoid the hassles associated with owning solar panels, and cut right to the chase: saving energy and money.

Check out today’s Denver Post article to learn more about the Prospero’s journey into home solar and affordable home solar leasing programs!

Is your home perfect for solar? Not sure? Take SunRun’s new solar quiz to check if your home has solar potential! Select your roof pitch and level of shade, enter your ZIP code, and find out if your home makes the grade.

Chances are that if you didn’t know your home was ready for solar, your friends and family won’t either — make sure to share the home solar quiz with them by installing the widget on your blog, Facebook page, or website.  Home solar electricity is a great way for you to save money and support clean energy so don’t wait to see if your home’s ready. For a more accurate assessment of your home’s solar potential or to learn more about solar energy across the nation, visit SunRun’s new Solar Calculator and Map.

Technological terms, by nature, can be a mouthful.  But their acronyms can be just as esoteric.  PBI, kWh, SREC?  Enough is enough.  Today we’re going to unpack these solar abbreviations and show home solar for what it really is: simple and relevant.

Let’s start with the basics:

• PV (photovoltaic): is a cell that converts solar radiation into direct current (DC) electricity.
• Si (silicon): a semiconducting material found in most solar cells.  It absorbs photons in sunlight and creates energy.
• kWh (kilowatt hour): a unit commonly used to measure energy delivered to customers by electric utilities.  It can be understood as the amount of energy consumed by a 1000-Watt appliance running for 1 hour.  For example, the average American household uses 920 KWh/month.  This is equivalent to running your microwave for 920 hours in a single month.
• MWh (Megawatt-hour): 1 MWh is 1000 kWh.  This unit is often used to measure larger amounts of electrical energy in power generation and that consumed by industrial customers.
• DG (distributed generation): also known as on-site generation, DG is when electricity is generated close to where it is used, such as your roof.  Generally, DG reduces the amount of energy lost, size and number of power lines and power plants necessary to transmit energy from generating stations.
• NEG & NEM (net energy generation & net energy metering): with home solar, you can end up generating more or less electricity than you use.  NEG is the total electricity your panels produce minus the electricity you use from the grid.  NEM means that the electricity you do generate will feed into the grid and earn you credits against the electricity you do pull from the grid.  Your utility bill will then reflect only the net energy you’ve pulled from the utility.

The next step is paying for solar.  Following is a list of abbreviations that address solar financing and government incentives.

• PPA (power purchase agreement): a financing option for residential solar in which a solar company owns (and installs, monitors, maintains) your solar panels; you pay for electricity.  With PPAs, you avoid the high upfront costs of installing solar and pay a monthly rate that depends on how much energy your panels produce.
• UFI (up-front incentive): a payment or rebate up front for installing solar panels.
• PBI (performance based incentive): a payment or rebate paid based on actual energy production, compared to a UFI, on a $/kWh basis.  A PBI benefits those with larger solar power systems.
• ITC (investment tax credit): the federal ITC is a 30% tax credit for installing a solar system in your home.  You can apply this credit to your tax bill in the following spring.
• PTC (production tax credit): the federal PTC is a per-kilowatt-hour tax credit for generating electricity, for a certain period of the solar system’s operation.  Those who are less interested in PTCs can apply for an ITC, and vice versa.
• EPBB (expected performance-based buy-down): an EPBB is a type of up-front incentive based on an estimate of your solar system’s expected performance.  The performance estimate is based on system size, geographic location, orientation at time of application.  The EPBB incentive is offered only to systems smaller than 30 kW AC in California, under the California Solar Initiative.
• PACE (property assessed clean energy): cities are beginning to offer PACE programs which provides a loan for your solar panels.  The program pays for the panels and you pay for the solar system on your property tax bill, over approximately 20 years, with interest.  PACE provides loans for the cost of the panels, before the federal ITC is rewarded – this means that you will need to make payments on a larger, pre-ITC loan.
• SBC (societal benefits charge): funding for programs that provide benefits to society, such as low-income, energy efficiency, and renewable energy programs

Some states not only offer financial incentives but also encourage solar energy production through other means.

• RPS (renewable portfolio standard): an RPS provides states with a way to increase the generation of renewable energy using a market-based approach.  It requires utilities and energy providers to supply a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources.  Right now, states with RPS requirements require between 4 and 30 percent of electricity to be generated by a specified date.
• SREC (solar renewable energy certificate): an SREC is the property right to the environmental benefits associated with generating solar electricity.  Homeowners who generate solar electricity are credited with 1 SREC for every MWh of electricity they produce.  Utilities that have to fulfill an RPS requirement can purchase these SRECs on the open market.
• ACP (alternative compliance payment): Utilities that have to comply with RPS requirements but find SRECs to be scarce or unavailable can provide an alternative payment (i.e. $300/MWh)

Whether you want to learn more about solar or help bring solar to your state, you’re not alone!

• ASES (american solar energy society): the nation’s leading non-profit association of solar professionals and advocates.  ASES publishes a solar magazine, organizes conferences, and has over 13,000 national members.
• SEIA (solar energy industry association): the national trade association of the solar industry.  SEIA works to make solar mainstream by advocating for federal policy that removes barriers and improves market conditions for the U.S. solar market.
• CSI (california solar initiative): the second largest solar initiative in the world, after Germany, and the largest program of its kind in the United States.  The CSI is part of the Go Solar California campaign and aims to ensure that California generates solar and reward systems that provide maximum solar generation.  This initiative builds on years of state rebates and offers incentives based on performance factors, in order to lower the cost of solar systems for consumers and build a self-sustaining solar market.

We hope that this helps make residential solar easier to understand.  Though it can seem complicated — especially if you’re dealing with installation and financing on your own — home solar is one of the simplest ways you can save energy, cut costs, and help the environment.

Starting today, SunRun affordable home solar financing is available in New Jersey.  Residents can convert their homes to solar for as little as $500, and pay for the clean solar electricity on a monthly basis.  Monthly payments for a 3 to 4 bedroom home will start at $50. Homeowners will lock in a low, long-term rate for their electricity, avoiding utility rate increases.

SunRun will partner with two of New Jersey’s leading solar installers, Mercury Solar Systems, and Trinity Solar.   Together, these installers have completed thousands of high quality residential solar installations in the state.

Earlier this week, New Jersey adopted an Energy Master Plan, which aims to generate 30% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources, such as solar, by 2010.  New Jersey is second to California in the total number of residential solar installations, and we are excited to bring affordable solar to thousands more customers in New Jersey.

If you’ve got friends or family in New Jersey who have always wanted to get solar, send them to SunRun’s solar calculator to see how much it will cost for them to get solar with SunRun.

Or, check out SunRun’s New Jersey solar page. 

Have you been thinking of going solar? Well, one important thing to look into is if the trees around your house shade your roof. Even if your roof is shaded partially, this can be a solar deal breaker.

Shade and solar are directly linked. How so? The amount of shade that hits a roof correlates to the productivity of a roof’s solar panels. If even only part of your roof is covered in shade, it will still dramatically reduce the system’s charging power. If one quarter of a roof is covered, the shade will reduce the output of your system by 50% and sometimes unravel the entire system.

Why does this happen? Each panel is composed of many different cells that are all connected and rely on each other to perform for overall production. The panels are equipped with sensors that reroute the electrical currents maneuvering around the cells that are not performing. In an effort to correct the production output, this rerouting serves to lose the potential energy created and lowers the voltage in the string of cells (Shade Happens). As a result, the shade that feels so nice in the summer months actually hinders your home’s solar potential.

That being said, before committing to solar, check that your house has a roof plane that does not face north with unobstructed sunlight.   See if any nearby trees block direct sunlight from hitting your roof at various time of day.

If you are interested in going solar but you have a lot of trees or your neighbor’s trees cast a shadow on your home, you have several options.

1. If you are willing to part with some trees on your property, trim them back or cut them down. Be certain to check watershed and other environmental factors if your are engaging in a significant tree-removal project.  In exchange, plant other greenery such as hedges or gardens on your property and power your house via solar energy so you can get the best of both worlds.
2. Negotiate with your neighbors explaining your interest in going solar and how their trees would prevent a solar system from working. Offer to help pay for the removal of trees and the replanting of other bushes or smaller trees that won’t shade your roof and prevent your solar system from running properly.

If solar is something you are very invested in, make sure that there are no barriers that would prevent your system from running effectively! Remember, there are ways to go green and still maintain the greenery in your yard.

Remember the game of “Telephone”?  The first person comes up with a phrase and whispers it to the next person.  The phrase moves down the line until it reaches the last person, who repeats what he’s heard for all to hear.  More often than not, the phrase is rendered almost completely unrecognizable, altered with each transference.  Much is lost in translation.

This is more or less the same with energy transmission.  The way our current grid system works in the United States is that electrical energy is generated in bulk from plants located miles away from cities and population centers.  The energy is transferred via power lines to substations, which are closer to home.  The substations then transmit the electricity to the customers.  What we mean by “the grid” is a series of high voltage transmission networks, with interconnected transmission lines.

There are currently three major networks in the U.S.: Western Interconnect, Eastern Interconnect, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.  These transmission lines can span a great distance and some of the electricity generated is lost through transmission.

A percentage of the electricity generated is lost because energy is necessary to move the electricity from the production site to your home. Additional energy is also lost as the voltage level changes from high to low as it moves from the power plants to your home.  Electricity is transmitted through power lines at very high voltage levels over long-distances, but is lowered to a safer and more manageable level for your home.

As you can see, long-distance transmission gets messy.  On average, 7-8% of the total energy generated is lost during this entire process.

On the other end of the power transmission spectrum is distributed generation.  Also known as on-site generation, this is when electricity is generated close to where it is used, i.e. rooftop solar.  Unlike transmission via grid networks, distributed generation reduces the amount of energy lost, the size and number of power lines and associated corridors that need to be constructed, and the number of new power plants that need to be built.  With rooftop solar, your energy goes straight from your roof to your home (or back to the grid if you generate more than you use).  Home generated power can also help the grid system as a whole by lowering demand during peak times and minimizing congestion, reducing the risk of blackouts and brownouts.  For more on the benefits, see the Department of Energy’s 2007 report on the potential benefits of distributed generation.

The nation’s current energy transmission system needs much improvement, and while a new smart grid would indeed help, this is easier said than done.  Rerouting entire transmission lines can get complicated.  According to the Western Resource Advocates, the “smartest powerline is the one that is never built.”  Distributed generation is efficient, safe, and direct.  From the sun to your roof, powering your home is simple again.

SunRun has expanded our relationship with our trusted partner PetersenDean Roofing and Solar Systems in order to bring affordable solar to new homes across California.  While residents will still be able to retrofit their existing homes with solar panels through SunRun financing, this new partnership will allow buyers to purchase new solar homes in the future without paying any money upfront for the solar panels through SunRun’s solar lease program.  With top quality solar systems and electricity savings already built into their homes, new homeowners can settle in without the fear of rising utility prices.

You can read more about SunRun’s and PetersenDean’s partnership in the latest article by San Francisco Business Times.

Buying a home is a big step, but we at SunRun are excited to bring affordable solar solutions to new homeowners all across California!