The Advantages of Adding Storage to Your Commercial Solar PV Design In the article below, Christopher LaForge, IREC-Certified Master Trainer, NABCEP-Certified PV Installation Professional, and CEO of Great Northern Solar, provides detail about the advantages of adding storage to your commercial solar PV design. Learning Takeaways: By storing solar generation during the… Continue reading “The Advantages of Adding Storage to Your Commercial Solar PV Design”
Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential The best solar + storage opportunities for most companies are on large commercial projects. That was my takeaway from a June 2nd call with Wes Kennedy, Joe Schwartz and David Brearley from SolarPro. The utility storage market is hot and happening… Continue reading “Solar + Storage: Commercial v. Utility v. Residential”
Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell Accurately predicting electrical loads is the biggest source of error in the design of battery-based solar pv systems and zero net energy homes. In this free lecture, Chris Calwell outlines best practices for predicting and measuring electrical loads in high… Continue reading “Free Lecture: “Electrical Loads in High Performance Buildings” with Chris Calwell”
Using Solar to Heat – Net Metering Makes a Difference In the article below, Vaughan Woodruff, Expert Instructor, Solar Approaches to Radiant Heating, outlines a response to a student who recently asked a question regarding the use of solar electricity for heating and how advances in battery storage might impact the suitability of using… Continue reading “Using Solar to Heat – Net Metering Makes a Difference”
3 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It The article below is a discussion from our course, Batteries in Solar PV Systems, led by Christopher LaForge. Christopher LaForge is the CEO of Great Northern Solar and a NABCEP certified photovoltaic installer. He has been designing, specifying, and installing systems… Continue reading “3 Reasons Your PV System Load Profile is Overinflated and How to Fix It”
Interview: Battery Expert Christopher LaForge on the Tesla Powerwall The debut of the Tesla Powerwall has made quite a splash in many circles. Claiming to outperform current battery systems for solar, it has the potential to make a large impact on the storage side of the production of solar… Continue reading “Interview: Battery Expert Christopher LaForge on the Tesla Powerwall”
Christopher LaForge: Battery Capacity – The Basis of Storage The article below was written by Christopher LaForge, NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional and IREC Certified Master Trainer. Christopher LaForge teaches Batteries in Solar PV Systems, a 6-week course that provides in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding the use of batteries for… Continue reading “Christopher LaForge: Battery Capacity – The Basis of Storage”
[Interview] Grid Storage Economics and Policy 101 There has been a huge amount of buzz about storage lately with more press hitting every week. SCE signed 250MW worth of contracts, Sandia is investing in battery reliability studies, the Navy is investing in micro-grids, Texas is evaluating storage, and New Jersey has issued… Continue reading “[Interview] Grid Storage Economics and Policy 101”
AC Coupling – How to Cost Effectively Add Battery Back-up to Existing Grid-Tied Solar PV systems This is a guest article by Chris LaForge. Chris is teaching an in-depth 6-week technical training on designing battery based solar PV systems that starts in September. You can read the full description and get a limited-time discount here. If… Continue reading “AC Coupling – How to Cost Effectively Add Battery Back-up to Existing Grid-Tied Solar PV systems”
Interview with Cory Honeyman, GTM Research Solar Analyst, on Emerging Trends in Residential and Commercial Solar In this interview, GTM Research Solar Analyst Cory Honeyman provides some background on the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report and discusses trends in residential and commercial solar, including hard costs, important skills for salespeople, state incentives, common misconceptions, and financing.… Continue reading “Interview with Cory Honeyman, GTM Research Solar Analyst, on Emerging Trends in Residential and Commercial Solar”
Battery Backup Basics for Solar PV When choosing the right battery, we must consider what we are doing with them, where we will put them, how much we will work on them, and how long we want them to last. Of course, all of these factors will… Continue reading “Battery Backup Basics for Solar PV”
Chris LaForge on Load Analysis for Battery-Based Solar Projects [Video] ISPQ Master trainer and solar legend Christopher LaForge is teaching a class on designing battery based solar PV systems. The capstone project for the class is design a complete battery based solar PV system. This is an intensive six-week training… Continue reading “Chris LaForge on Load Analysis for Battery-Based Solar Projects [Video]”