In early April my brother linked me up to the sign-up page for the Nike sponsored Solarize Communities project. I signed up and within a week I was contacted by Larry from Northwest Solar Solutions to come take a look at our house.
The First Visit:
Larry visited few days later and explained the program to me and asked me what I was looking for in PV system? Answer: As big a Photo Voltaic (PV) system that could fit! He also brought his electrician with him and we looked over the house.
The Subs:
As I think is common with most solar contractors, they sub out work to roofing companies and electricians to do the work related to their trades. The roofers set the mounting stanchions and rails that support the PV panels and the eletricians install the panels and complete all the wiring. The solar contractor coordinates ALL the paper work, applications and various sub-contractors.
The electrician verified our house electrical could support the installation and Larry looked at our roof to be sure that it would be a good candidate. Based on house position, roof slope, obstructions and other details, he would calculate our home’s “Solar Resource Fraction” to verify that we qualified for the incentives and credits. It turned out our Solar Resource Fraction was 90% and we needed to meet at least 75% to qualify for the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) Solar Incentive.
What do you think???
So we waited for our proposals……
