My Solar Electricity Production

kWh stands for kilowatt-hour, and a kilowatt is 1,000 watts. A kilowatt-hour is the standard unit of measure for electricity. It represents the amount of energy required to power a 1-kilowatt appliance for one hour.

The more power an appliance consumes, the faster it will use up to 1 kWh. For example, a power-hungry, 500-watt vacuum cleaner will use up a kWh in two hours, whereas the same amount of energy will power a 100-watt light bulb for 10 hours.

Your utility will track how many kWh you buy from them, as well as how many kWh you send into the grid.

Off Grid Energy will track how many kWh your solar panels produce.

Solar panels are capable of producing electricity in all types of weather all year round. You will notice that performance will vary from day to day. On a cloudy day, a solar system typically performs at 10% to 25% of its capacity.

When we design our systems and estimate their production, we take into account the amount of sunlight that your specific region receives each year. This means that your system will be sized appropriately for the amount of sunny (or cloudy) days you receive each year.

Yes, your solar system will provide your home with power all year, though the amount of power that is produced does shift with the seasons.

Summer is when solar production peaks with the longest days of the year and consistent sunshine. During winter, solar production is at its lowest due to short days and more variable weather.

We design our systems with all four seasons in mind, and this seasonal fluctuation will be factored into your solar production estimate.

Solar panels need sunlight to create electricity–they’re dormant at night. However, you do still have power at night when you go solar through net metering or a home battery.

Net Metering Makes the Most of Your Solar Production
Connecting your solar installation to the grid enables net metering. When your solar panels produce excess energy, it’s sent to the grid. The utility company then provides credit on your account. At night, you can apply those credits toward drawing electricity from the grid so your solar power never goes to waste. Net metering exists in some form in all of the markets that Off Grid Energy operates in except for Hawaii.

Solar Battery Storage Offers Energy Independence
Since there is no Net Energy Metering available for new customers in Hawaii, we use battery storage to make use of solar power at night. Solar batteries maximize your panels’ daytime energy production and provide electricity for later use. So instead of sending your excess electricity to the grid, store it and use your own energy. You’ll consume electricity from the battery first before drawing from the grid.

A home battery or net metering enables your solar installation to access free or reduced-cost electricity at night. That’s how solar is a 24/7 affordable energy option. Off Grid Energy solar panels and a Off Grid Energy battery will have you covered both day and night.

During a power outage, Off Grid Energy solar systems automatically turn off to protect utility workers that may be working on power lines. This means that the solar system will not provide power to the house during an outage. It will turn back on automatically when the utility restores power to the grid.

The exception to this is home solar systems that have Off Grid Energy’s solar battery service.

Depending on where you live, Off Grid Energy battery storage can be used for backup electricity in the event of a power outage or for better control over your power usage.

It is currently available in select states {link to https://offgridenergyservices.com/solar-battery-storage} for new Off Grid Energy solar customers.

Shade on your solar panels decreases their efficiency. When we design your system we account for existing shade on your roof but changes in tree shape or height can increase shade and lead to decreased production over time. When you go solar, it is best to keep your trees trimmed so they do not block the sun from shining on your panels.

The solar panels on your roof should continue to produce electricity well past the 25-year mark but their efficiency will decrease slightly over time at an average rate of 0.5% per year.

We design our solar agreements with the lifespan of our equipment in mind and have taken this expected decline in performance into account in our production estimates.

This means that after 25 years, your system should still be operating at around 88% of its original capacity and providing your home with clean, renewable energy.

When your panels don’t produce as much energy as you need you will then purchase any additional power from the grid.  This is not a sign that something is wrong, rather it is a very normal part of the seasonal shifts in solar energy production and your own personal energy consumption.

When we’re designing your home solar system, we make sure it fits your household electricity needs, helping control your energy costs over time. We look at 12 months of past electricity usage to make sure your solar panels produce the right amount of power for your home over the course of a full year.

Keep in mind that there’s the chance you’ll have an unseasonably hot summer that requires you to run the air conditioning more than usual. If that’s the case, you may have to use some extra electricity from your local utility, resulting in a slightly higher energy bill for that month. Your solar panels would still be producing the amount of power they’re supposed to—your higher-than-average energy usage will just need an added boost from the grid to support it.

You will be able to log in to your Off Grid Energy account to check your system’s production. There you will be able to see how your production varies on a day-to-day basis and how it adds up over weeks and months.

If you are leasing a system from us, purchasing electricity under a PPA, or own your system and have chosen the Protection Plus program, you also get the benefit of Off Grid Energy’s monitoring team who keep a close eye on the system to make sure it is producing as expected.