Learn
Home energy guidance without the sales pitch.
Everything worth understanding before you spend money, written so you could take it to a competitor and still make a good decision.
Start here
Where are you up to?
Still working out what the home needs
Answer a few questions about your home. We'll help you explore what to look at first and what might be able to wait.
Weighing up the options
How the roof, the heating and cooling and the power side affect each other, and what order the work usually goes in.
Decided, and getting ready
What installation day involves, and the site and electrical work that can come with it.
Before your project starts
Prepare for your project
See what installation day and any required electrical or site work may involve before the crew arrives.
The guide page is the accessible version: it covers the same ground and adds the main service panel, panel relocation, meter swap and trenching guides. Nothing here needs a download to read.
Solar
Cost and financing
Cash, loan and lease compared honestly.
Roof and solar together
How roof condition can affect Solar planning and the order of work.
Battery storage
What battery storage may support during an outage and how stored electricity can be used later.
EV charging
Level 2 charging, what the panel has to support, and what the run to the parking spot costs.
Service for existing systems
Including orphaned systems where the original installer is gone. You do not need to have bought from us.
Panel removal and reinstallation
What it involves, why it costs what it does, and how to avoid needing it at all.
Installation and project preparation
What installation day, electrical upgrades, meter changes, and site work can involve.
Reading your utility bill after solar
What the numbers mean, and why the bill rarely reaches zero.
How home solar works
Panels, inverter, meter, and what the utility does with the difference.
Solar equipment choices, explained
Microinverters, optimizers and string inverters — what actually differs.
Customer education
How the equipment works, how the money works, and how to read what arrives after your system is switched on. Written to be useful whether or not you buy from us.
State and incentive guides
Incentives are set state by state, and in Delaware partly by which utility supplies your power. Each page carries the current position with its source and the date it was checked.
Solar in Delaware
Utility green energy grant, Delaware SREC market.
About 15 weeks from signing to switch-on.
Solar in Maryland
Maryland Solar Access Program, Maryland SREC market.
About 19 weeks from signing to switch-on.
Whole-home planning
Which system to deal with first, what can wait, and how one decision changes the next. You do not have to take on everything at once.
How a solar project actually runs
End to end it takes about 18 weeks, median, from signing to a system that is legally allowed to switch on (across our installations april 2024 – august 2026). Most of that is not construction. The install itself is usually a day or two; the rest is design, permits and the utility.
- Site survey. Someone measures the roof, checks the electrical panel and photographs everything. This is where surprises surface, which is why it happens early.
- Design. Panel layout, inverter choice and the electrical plan, drawn to what the survey found rather than to a template.
- Permitting. Your municipality reviews the plans. Timelines here are set by the town, not by us, and they vary a lot — this is the single biggest source of variation between two otherwise identical projects.
- Installation. The visible part. Usually one to two days on the roof.
- Inspection. The town signs off on the work.
- Utility interconnection and permission to operate. The utility approves the connection and only then may the system legally produce. Until this step lands, a fully installed system stays switched off — which is why we count "powered" here and not at installation.
Common questions
Do I need a new roof before solar?
Only if the roof is near the end of its life. Panels last decades, so replacing a roof underneath an existing array means paying to remove and reinstall them. Whether yours is close enough to matter is about the life left in it rather than its age, and that is what an assessment establishes.
What happens in a power cut?
Solar alone normally shuts down when the grid goes down, for the safety of line workers. A battery with the right backup equipment can keep selected circuits running. That affects system design, so it is worth discussing before the design is finalized.
Will you service a system someone else installed?
Yes, including orphaned systems where the original installer no longer trades. You do not need to have bought from us.
How long does it take from signing to switching on?
Approximately 18 weeks, median, from signed agreement to permission to operate. Permitting and utility interconnection timelines can vary, so individual project timelines may differ.
Are there still solar incentives?
Yes, at state level, and they differ by state — in Delaware partly by utility. Current values are published on each state page with the date they were verified.
Do I have to talk to a salesperson to get a price?
You can explore what affects solar costs without speaking to a salesperson or providing contact details. A reliable price for your home requires project-specific information, including system design, roof conditions, and electrical requirements.