Lynn M’s Residential Solar Installation Project
| Market | Residential |
| Budget | $3x,xxx |
| Start Date | May 5, 2022 |
| Completion Date | Oct 6, 2022 |
| Location | Paradise, MI |
Lynn Miller, a resident of Paradise, MI, was looking for a roof mounted solar energy system. She lives deep in the Hiawatha forest of Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula, right on the shore of Lake Superior. Living in this area of the country brings unique challenges, with harsh winter conditions and frequent power outages. Because of this, many like Lynn have come to us at Peninsula Solar to help remedy these energy challenges by providing them a well built, powerful energy system.
Customer Quote
“We are very happy with Peninsula Solar from start to finish of the project and highly recommend the company for anyone looking into going solar.”
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Analysis
Once the size and location of the solar energy system were determined, we were able to accurately compile the materials necessary to complete the project. A price was calculated for the client where they then signed a contract, allowing us to order necessary materials, pull permits, schedule labor and design the electrical system. Lynn’s desired system required 16 German manufactured Q-Cell 360W monocrystalline panels with a Sol Ark 8k inverter and 3 Ark batteries at 15 kilowatt-hours each. The goal of this project was to supplement her grid power consumption with a 5.76 kilowatt solar array system and a 45 kWh battery bank. This system granted Lynn the ability to store generated power for later use and sell back any excess power generated by the system to the utility.
Proposal
Upon receiving a call from Lynn, our General Manager Ben Shimpf worked with her to put a project together that would suit her energy needs. The first step was to gather the necessary information about her power consumption so that our team could appropriately size her energy system. Once Lynn’s desired energy production was established, Ben worked with her to identify the location of the home and roof layout. Using state of the art solar design applications, mapping an optimal panel layout was completed and sent over to our installation team. Our team was able to order the necessary materials to get construction started.
Adding a renewable energy system to Lynn’s home in the rugged forest of the Upper Peninsula, battered by Lake Superior’s gale force winds and long winters, is a huge benefit for the comfort and peace of mind of any homeowner.
Problem Solving
Due to our skilled installation team, roof mounted arrays can be built in as short as two days. However it takes time for the materials to get to us, sometimes weeks or months. In Lynns case, it took a little longer than usual due to supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. This required a slight modification to her components list and called for finding high performing matches for the materials that wouldn't be available in the project timeline. After the change in components were made, the materials were secured and our technicians moved swiftly to lay out the panel racking and wiring in just one day. Heavy wind off Lake Superior delayed installation, so a follow up day was required for mounting the panels and completing the exterior construction of the installation.
Among the many pieces required for a successful installation, one of the top priorities is a clean and sleek design. Our electrical professionals did just that on this job by redesigning Lynn’s existing electrical panel area to fit her Inverter, sub panel, and batteries neatly. By extending her pre-existing wall, all of the components were able to fit to code and to the satisfaction of our valued customer.
Scope
This system is capable of providing substantial power to the home, but still requires power supply from the grid. With this system, Lynn is able to reduce her energy bill and has access to visually see how her system is working, how much power she’s producing, the charge level of her batteries, amount of power being used from the utility and more. These capabilities allow Lynn to be well informed about her energy consumption. By understanding what times of day are peak production hours, Lynn can manage her energy consumption accordingly.
Budget
Budgeting a project is a fairly routine task. Once we know what the customer wants in terms of size, style and what they are willing to pay, we can easily itemize their parts accordingly and provide the customer a fair estimate. One thing that can be a challenge is availability of the equipment we want to use. If we cannot get the equipment we originally intended when we need it, then a search for alternatives may be undertaken. If this is the case, we will write the customer a bill for a change order which will add or subtract accordingly to the total price point. The goal of any change order is to increase the value of the system for the customer.
Maintenance
Lynn has been able to keep her power on, batteries full, and sell back energy to her local utility. She has professed nothing but enthusiasm for the work we did and was one of those people who makes our work much easier. Any troubleshooting issues have been successfully resolved through effective communication between the client and our representatives. Any settings changes that can be made to improve performance will be made immediately.