EnergySage Releases Findings of 2016 Solar Installer Survey

EnergySage released today the results of its second annual Solar Installer Survey, the largest and most comprehensive business climate survey of solar companies nationwide. The report captures key observations of local, regional and national solar installers in both residential and commercial markets. More than 360 experienced solar installers across the United States responded to the survey, which was fielded and authored by EnergySage in partnership with pv magazine. Among the central findings, over half of solar companies surveyed (53%) report that their largest obstacle in closing sales is the confusion created by their competitors and its impact on consumer confidence overall. Similarly, the survey reflects an increasing trend noted in last year's report: customer acquisition has become more challenging due to increased competition and consumers reviewing more quotes before buying. However, the study also reveals that installer confidence levels have increased nationwide in the last year.  Full Press Release:

altE Announces its 2017 Annual Solar Installer Conference in the Northeast

altE's 6th Annual Solar Conference is Feb 7-9, 2017 in Boxborough, MA - Technical Workshops, Latest Solar Gear, Solar Manufacturers & 2017 NEC Solar Updates

Integrated Energy Systems

Opportunities for solar installers to offer storage as an integral part of their solutions are opening up everywhere, from mitigating the impact of power outages, the increase in distributed renewable generation at times of low use, the rising costs of base and peak power and the trend of some states to reduce or eliminate net metering programs.

Using Y Connectors in String Inverter Systems: Part I

In Part I of this blog post Eric Every, Yaskawa - Solectria Senior Applications Engineer, explores cases in which PV system designers should use Y-connectors, what the code implications may be, how they may be used with internal inverter combiners.

SolarCity pushing industry to 40% increase in useful lifetime of solar power installations

John Fitzgerald Weaver for Electrek:  In a new report released by SolarCity, we are seeing that solar power systems have a usable lifetime of at least 35 years – 40% longer than the market expects. The key finding of the report is that power degradation (annual efficiency loss) of solar panels supplied to SolarCity is as much as 35% lower than for a comparable industry-wide selection of non-SolarCity panels, which are typically expected to last for 25 years. SolarCity feels it is the implementation of a stringent and industry-leading “Total Quality Program” that has driven this. SolarCity is in the unique position of being one of the largest deployers of solar panels – from multiple manufacturers – in the world, and with their tens of thousands of systems connected to a central database they know realtime performance. In the study here, SolarCity looked at greater than 11,000 panels to determine their data points and come to their conclusion that their solar panels are performing well beyond expected industry standards.   Cont'd.. .

Panasonic Announces New Solar Panel Installer Program

• Panasonics new program offers two levels of benefits, "Authorized Installer" and "Premium Installer" • Participating solar installers will have access to a variety of assets provided by Panasonic to help increase sales

Solar System Support - Installing Wood Blocking

This instructional video is about installing wood blocking for solar installations. Learn the best tips and tricks from our industry expert and Sr. Director of Policy, Jeff Spies!

altE Adds National Electric Code Review Workshop Day to 2016 Annual Solar Installer Conference

Solar National Electric Code Expert, Dr. Sean White, to provide interactive class for solar installers and electric code inspectors at altEs 2016 Annual Solar Installer Conference

Californians Are Getting Paid To Install Awesome Energy Storage Systems

SGIP stands for Self Generation Incentive Program, a way to motivate consumers to use alternative energy sources to generate and store their own electricity. The SGIP pays energy storage users over a dollar per watt.

EnergySage - 2015 Solar Installer Survey Report

We are noticing a major shift in the way todays homeowners shop for solar. The era of the solar "hard sell" is coming to an end - solar shoppers are educating themselves about all their options beforehand, and placing more value in the ability to compare multiple quotes before they commit.

Next Generation Inverters - HD-Wave Technology

With HD-Wave technology, SolarEdge initially creates a much smoother sine wave (a high-definition wave) thus avoiding the heavy and costly magnetic components while gaining efficiency.

Radian Generation Releases New Software for Solar Asset Managers

Lens, RadianGen's internal software platform, is now available to solar professionals

OutBack Power Showcases Easy-to-Install Solar Equipment for Electrical Contractors

All-in-one systems designed for longevity in the field save installers time, offer competitive advantage

SolarCity claims highest efficiency solar panel

Tristan Edist for the Business Spectator:  SolarCity, the largest retailer of solar systems in the US (over 30% market share) and partly owned by Tesla’s Elon Musk, has announced it will produce the most efficient solar module available on the market at 22.04% conversion efficiency. SolarCity is claiming it has therefore managed to pip SunPower who have been the longstanding holder of the most efficient conventional silicon solar module on the market. However in a subsequent discussion with Greentech Media, Peter Rive’s Chief Technology Officer conceded the majority of the panels coming off its pilot 100MW manufacturing line were hitting 21.8%.  In 2017 the company will be then moving production to a new 1 gigawatt per annum capacity plant in Buffalo which can sometimes encounter challenges with achieving stable quality levels during production start-up. SunPower claims 21.5% efficiency for its X-Series panel although often manufacturers will  have some variance in performance of panels and make claims based on conservative estimates of performance. Greentech Media quotes an anonymous Sunpower source saying that 22% efficient panels are already coming off its production lines.  In addition the company is targeting achieving 23% conversion efficiency from panels it will manufacture from its fifth fabrication line, scheduled for start-up in 2017.     Cont'd...

#SolarVets To Get An Extra Week of Solar Training

The new, longer class will offer more time, labs, and student/trainer interface.

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