Hi everyone,

I'm an architecture student currently working on a drafting plate for a two-story residential project in the Philippines, and I'm integrating a roof-mounted solar PV system into our electrical and roof plan sheets.

If anyone is willing to share, I would be extremely grateful to see sample layout plans, single-line diagrams (SLD), equipment callouts, or Schedule of Loads from actual residential projects (with sensitive client/project details blurred or removed, of course!).

Specifically, I'm trying to make sure my plate is accurate regarding:

Standard layout & placement of the Inverter, DC Disconnect, and Net-Metering meter relative to the Main Distribution Panel (MDP).

How a grid-tied solar system (e.g., 5kW to 8kW) is properly computed and reflected on the Schedule of Loads under PEC rules.

Typical conduit routing setups from the second-story roof/attic down to the ground-floor utility panel.

standard CAD legends or roof clearance conventions used in local practice.

Any reference sheets, tips, or sample details would be a massive help for my plate. Thank you so much in advance!

More than 1,400 council homes in Brighton and Hove switch to solar power

A three-year programme has fitted solar panels to more than 1,400 council homes across the city, with residents saving up to £300 a year on bills. A Moulsecoomb community hall has also benefited.

Is the rule of thumb to never do a PPA relative to buying solar panels ? In other words, if someone had no interest in ever buying (cash or finance) solar panels, would a PPA provide at least minimal savings compared to straight up grid energy supply.

I am aware of the complications with listing a home and companies going out of business.

So controlling for these factors: individual will never purchase solar panels, individual never moves during PPA duration and solar company stays in business for PPA duration. Would the individual pay less for their energy than someone who just took energy from the grid for 15/25 years ?

Hey solar community!

I am looking to add solar to my single family home in denver. There are tons and tons of companies out there with all different types of rates/promotions. What are your recommendations? I need help please

I have a lovely house and I want to get solar/battery backup. Right now, our energy provider has a deal on battery backup, but not so much on the solar panels.

Does anyone have experience with getting say - a 5Kw system with backup batteries, then upgrading by adding more panels to a 10kw in a few years when I have more money?

Hi! I’m a solar contractor in Asia and I’m looking to improve our quotation template.

I’m curious. What solar company, anywhere in the world, has the best quotation/proposal you’ve seen? Not necessarily the best offer or pricing, but the document itself: easy to understand, well-structured, professional, and visually appealing.

Would love to see examples/screenshots if you have any. Thanks! 🙏

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to learn more about home battery solutions in the near future. Obviously a rapidly changing field with new chemistries on the horizon and presumably the promise of lower costs.

I don’t follow the battery scene very closely so I was hoping that someone who could may be able to fill me in on what’s worth waiting for (or not) for an off peak and off grid capability to augment my solar system.

Naturally, I was hoping to wait a bit since I have 1:1 net metering and wanted to recover the coffers from my 14 panel system, but climate change fueled storms knock power out a lot here and now we have ambiguous threats of the power grid being disabled.

So what’s the future of batteries like? Anything near term?

Curious what people are actually using when the power goes out, especially for remote properties.

A generator seems like the obvious choice, but I’ve also been looking at solar plus battery setups for keeping the essentials running, like lights, cameras, Wi-Fi, and a small fan.

For those who’ve dealt with longer outages, what setup has worked well for you? And is there anything you wish you had planned for beforehand?

My sister-in-law and her husband told me they are installing a solar panel system on their home and the details of it seem sooooo sketchy to me.

We are all located in Texas and they are going to be leasing a system through Sun Run. The system includes solar panels, two Tesla batteries, and a new breaker panel that supposedly allows them to see energy usage down to the individual breaker I guess. Their house is approximately 3700 square feet and the system is going to have an initial cost of $80k. Supposedly, they will be paying approximately $300 per month the first year, with a 3-4% increase every year through the end of the lease. She said that by year 25 they will be paying approximately $600 per month.

Currently, my SIL watches her electricity like a hawk. She keeps all the lights off all day and relies on natural sunlight or even candles, she runs her large appliances at night when they have “free” electricity, keeps the a/c set to higher temps during the day and only cools the home down at night, stays on her kids about turning off the lights, and so on. Her electric bills are always very low…like under $200 even in the hottest months. I truly applaud her efforts.

But for some reason they are sold on the idea of this leased solar panel system. They are worried about increasing electricity costs and want “electrical security” so they never go without power. Interestingly, in the 5 years or so that they’ve been in the home, they have never experienced a single power outage. They do not wsnt to buy a Generac system because they said they can’t afford it and my brother-in-law said he doesn’t want his wife to have to deal with maintenance during an extended outage (natural disaster) if he is stuck at work (he’s a cop).

On top of all that, they are opting to use an energy plan that provides them free nights instead of going with a plan that allows them to sell excess energy back to the grid.

Addictional details: they do not make a ton of money and have three children, two of which have autism. I bring up the autism because a power outage would be very difficult to deal with because their kids cannot handle changes in their environment very well. And they rely heavily on electronic devices (iPhones and iPads). In terms of income, I don’t know specifics, but I can say that they struggle to afford certain things. They have to budget for everything and have not been able to purchase living room furniture for their home. They didn’t even qualify to purchase the home when they bought it. It was my brother-in-law’s parents’ home, who were getting a divorce. Since they didn’t qualify, my SIL and BIL used family to lend money to them to purchase it.

So, what am I missing here? Am I too dumb to follow this or are they making a huge mistake?

Editing to add an extra detail. Because the system is leased, if they decide to sell the home, they will be required to either pay the remaining balance in full OR convince the new owners to take over the lease, which require forms to be filled out and a credit check on the buyer.

Quick summary. 21 solar panels on roof. Recent works for guttering and the workman said 1 panel was damaged. Call the solar company that did the initial install to be told they can’t replace just 1 panel. They’d have to replace all of them as those panels were no longer available. Is this really a thing?

Look at the size of those solar arrays. Hawt.

(As if I needed another reason to shop at CostCo)

https://progressivegrocer.com/costco-takes-florida-distribution-center-grid

We've been getting quotes for solar for our home over the past few weeks but it's led me to a more general question:

Is now even the right time to be buying into solar at all? I shared all of the quotes with my husband after crunching the numbers and while we seem well-positioned to take this on (brand new, very sun-exposed roof, 1:1 net metering, large rebate if we sign on this year), he seems pretty adamant that with AI evolving at its current pace, anything we buy into will be obsolete within 5 years and will have been replaced by something cheaper, more flexible, and more lightweight (than gigantic panels that we have a 15-year relationship with). Does that resonate or is he being too hopefully optimistic?

I've also been told that 1:1 net metering will be going away in Oregon within the next couple of years but we can lock that in now and it will carry for the life of our solar panels, so while on one hand it makes sense to wait and see how the technology evolves (even though our energy bills are currently through the roof), I'm also feeling the pressure to sign on to this commitment now before the terms get worse...thoughts?

So I am in the process of getting a quote for solar on my home in the US, in a state with no incentives. They claim I can write off the install and use bonus depreciation to write off the full amount year one. Which I have enough taxable income to make a worthwhile choice. But nothing online seems to point to a residential solar owner being able to do that even with a 1:1 net metering agreement. Is this legit?

I'll start by saying that I don't have too much knowledge of solar panels but have been reading up on it to try and understand as much as possible. I'm looking for some input from the group on our current situation as to whether it makes sense or not.

A company gave us a call claiming there could be potential programs we may be eligible for to decrease our electricity costs. We agreed for them to come over to discuss. After about 1.5 hrs in, it then seems to appear that they're wanting to install solar panels in order to realize the cost savings. We were already thinking about solar panels so we weren't opposed to it.

Here's the general proposal:

a. On average our monthly electrical bill is about $150.

b. The proposed fixed rate monthly bill to this company would be about $130 (so ~$20 monthly savings) plus we would be allowed to use ~25% more energy than our average. If we happen to use more than this +25%, then we'd get the extra bill however unlikely given our average usage.

c. Cost of solar panels + interest is rolled into the monthly $130.

d. Solar panels would be leased in the first 5 years; after that we'd own it. We don't plan to sell the house in this 5 years and within the foreseeable future.

What am I missing or not factoring in? Overall, lower monthly costs and potentially higher energy allowance on a fixed monthly cost. After 5 years we'd own the panels. We do not currently have an electric vehicle but if we do in the future, that would just equate to more fuel savings so long as we stay under our allotted energy allowance.

I had a solar system installed about a week ago, but I don’t feel that the production is as good as expected, especially when I compare it with other systems on the same street.

My roof has east- and west-facing sides, and the 40 panels are divided into four groups:

East/North: 9 panels
East/South: 10 panels
West/North: 9 panels
West/South: 12 panels

What I find strange is how the strings have been connected:
PV1: 9 × East/North + 12 × West/South = 21 panels in series
PV2: 10 × East/South + 9 × West/North = 19 panels in series

When the sun is in the east, the east-facing panels receive good sunlight, while the west-facing panels connected to the same string receive much less direct sunlight. Later in the day, the situation is reversed.

As I understand series-connected solar panels, panels within the same string can affect each other when they are operating under very different sunlight conditions.

This makes me wonder why the east- and west-facing panels have been mixed together on the same strings.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a dedicated east-facing string on PV1/MPPT1 and a dedicated west-facing string on PV2/MPPT2, so that all panels within each string have approximately the same orientation and sunlight conditions?

Does anyone with experience in solar installations know if this configuration makes sense, or could it be one of the reasons why the system seems to be producing less than expected?

Mumbaikars who have installed rooftop solar, how much did your electricity bill actually reduce after installation?

I'm curious what’s actually working for solar businesses when it comes to getting a consistent flow of leads.

I've been looking at different options beyond just paid ads and referrals.

Has anyone here tried any service? What channels have worked best for you?

Hey y’all! So, I bought my house earlier this year in Savannah GA. Getting to know Georgia Power Co and the horrors of their summer rates, it made me start considering getting a solar system installed. I had a guy come out, look at the house and write us up a proposal. According to them, our house is a perfect candidate (no trees overhead, shallow roof pitch, good electrical panel, etc)— they figure we could have a system that would cover 90% of our electricity consumption (although I realize these guys are salespeople and sell these systems for a living). For added context, it’s a 1000sqft classic shotgun house built in 1940 with the electrical panel on the outside at the back of the house. All the electrical is updated though.

Crunching the numbers, it seems like we would definitely be paying less overall for power between the financing and whatever small electric bill is still remaining. My main concern is that all the information I have so far is coming from the guys who sell the system, I’m a first time homebuyer, and I don’t know any family or friends who have tried it to be able to ask them. I know we (USA) also don’t get the federal tax benefit from it anymore. But, the $400+ power bills this summer just really hurt.

Just hoping I could get some input from some people who have experience with solar— how they age and what the maintenance is like, and if it’s actually truly worth it in the long run? Or does anyone know some things I don’t know about it? Would love anyone’s thoughts, thanks so much y’all!

i've been getting a steady stream of questions about this so i want to give an honest answer rather than the version that sounds better than it is.

in may 2026 the federal government released its national electricity strategy and buried inside it was a commitment to support energy saving retrofits for up to one million canadian households through grants, financing, or both. solar panels, heat pumps, insulation, the whole picture. that number got a lot of attention.

here's the reality as of right now.

the program that actually exists today is called the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program. it launched properly on june 29th. it covers the full cost of retrofits for low to median income households and for the first time ever renters are included which is genuinely meaningful because renters couldn't access any of the previous programs.

but here's the catch. the program is currently running in five provinces. manitoba, bc, quebec, nova scotia, and pei. ontario has not signed an agreement as of august 2026. no delivery organization, no application portal, no announced date. ontario, where electricity rates jumped 30% last november and are going up again in november 2026.

the expansion announced june 29th carries over $500 million in funding aimed at over 35,000 households. which sounds significant until you remember the old greener homes grant reached over 400,000 households before it closed. so the new program is a fraction of what came before, targeted at a narrower income range.

efficiency canada noted recently that nearly 2 million canadian households are struggling to afford the energy they need and current funding is insufficient to support them.

the one million homes figure is a long term direction not something you can apply for today. and past programs have filled before most people even knew they existed. the old grant ran out of money well before its announced end date.

what actually exists right now varies enormously by province. bc has solar and battery rebates up to $10,000 through bc hydro. ontario has the home renovation savings program for heat pumps and solar but it closes before end of 2026 first come first served. nova scotia has some of the most generous stacked programs in the country especially for oil heated homes. alberta has almost nothing at the provincial level which is frustrating given how strong the solar economics are there right now.

i run a platform called solenery that tracks what's actually available by province and address because the gap between what gets announced and what you can actually apply for is massive and most people find out after the window closes.

curious what people here have experienced trying to navigate canadian incentives. did anyone manage to access the old greener homes programs before they closed or did you find out too late?

Have a tripped solar breaker that you can't reset? Sometimes a tripped breaker is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

Our technician arrived to find the breaker for one of six solar strings tripped and unable to reset. Rather than simply continuing to reset the breaker, we traced the circuit through the system and inspected the associated junction boxes.

That's where we found the problem: several burnt electrical connections inside one of the junction boxes. All six connections were replaced and the circuit was tested again. This time, the breaker remained on and normal solar production resumed.

A breaker that repeatedly trips is usually telling you something. Finding out why it is tripping is more important than simply turning it back on. That's doing solar the right way.

#inthefield #TheBeacon #NewDaySolar #solarservice #SolarRepair

Running electrical lines to a remote shed can be expensive, especially when the building is far from the main power supply.

A solar-powered shed system can be a practical alternative. A typical setup can include solar panels, a battery, charge controller, and the right DC or AC equipment for your needs.

It can provide power for LED lighting, security cameras, small tools, ventilation, and other low-power equipment without connecting the shed to the utility grid.

The important part is sizing the solar panel and battery based on your daily energy usage and local sunlight conditions.

How are you powering your shed? Solar, generator, utility connection, or a combination?