As part of the Enphase IQ family of products, the company has released details on its Enphase IQ Battery 5P. This battery offers some improvements for select clients in Southwest Florida, but will not necessarily be a big step up from Encharge 10 and 10T batteries currently offered. At least, not without a price. The Enphase 5P battery has half …
Enphase Encharge Battery Backup System
We are the local leader in solar energy systems installed with Enphase microinverters. You can add battery backup to your grid-interactive solar panel system to provide seamless power to your home. We can provide solutions that backup only critical loads or your whole home including air conditioning! Watch our promotional video below to see the components of an Enphase Encharge …
Solar Tax Credit for Vacation Homes in Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida is one of the top places in the nation for second homes. Whether you own a winter getaway or a vacation rental here, your second home should qualify for the 30% Federal Investment Tax credit. That means you can put solar panels on your second home and claim the tax credit, and get back 30% of what you …
Who Makes Tier 1 Solar Panels
Everyone is getting in on the ChatGPT craze. If you don’t know what this is, it’s an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. It is expected to yield huge changes in the way we search and learn online. Students are even cheating by writing papers using this tool. It can produce human-like responses with great information, but the problem is, …
EV Battery For Home Solar Backup – Reality Check
There has been a lot of buzz about Electric Vehicle batteries being able to power your home. This technology is definitely exciting and has a ton of promise. After all, why have a home battery for backup if your new car already has a battery in it? As it turns out, there are a lot of reasons, especially in Southwest …
NABCEP Certified PVIP Photovoltaic Installation Professional In Southwest Florida
People engaged in skilled trades seek certifications to show the public that they are vetted as competent persons in their craft. For example, air conditioning has NATE, auto mechanics have ASE, and electricians can become Journeyman. In the solar energy industry, NABCEP is the de facto standard for certifications. But they offer a wide array of certifications and it’s important …
How Enphase Lifetime Free Solar Monitoring Works
Enphase provides world-class solar monitoring and unparalleled customer support. When you purchase an Enphase microinverter based solar electric system from Florida Solar Design Group, you will automatically get access to Enphase’s Enlighten solar monitoring platform and app. We will install a data monitoring gateway that connects to your home Wi-Fi network and sends performance data to the Enphase Cloud where …
What Wind Speed Can My Solar Panels Handle?
Given the prevalence of hurricanes in Southwest Florida, people naturally want to know what kind of wind speeds solar panels can handle. Unfortunately, that’s a loaded question with no real, direct answer. Nobody “knows” for sure, but we have lots of anecdotal data. There are way too many variables to provide a succinct answer. And, there are no guarantees. The …
Enphase Energy Independence in Enlighten App
We love Enphase around here, but sometimes they really don’t think things through and cause solar contractors a lot of unnecessary grief. You would not believe how many calls/emails/texts we get about the “Energy Independence” figure shown in the Enphase Enlighten app. An average person might think this figure indicates how much of your energy is being produced by solar …
Solar Financing Explained – How To Pay For Solar Panels
This is the guide the other guy doesn’t want you to know. This is the quiet part said out loud. This is the inside scoop on solar financing. Financing a solar electricity system can be confusing. Making an informed decision will greatly improve your experience, and we are here to help you do that. There are several ways to finance …
Utility Interconnection Tiers Explained
The Florida Administrative Code is where we find the Net Metering Rule for Florida. Utility companies are bound by this law, and each has an interconnection agreement form that is approved by the Public Service Commission. FPL and LCEC are the two utility companies in our service territory. Both have interconnection Tiers 1, 2, and 3. Tier 3 is only …
Monitoring Electric Vehicle Charging with Enphase Enlighten App
I’m sure the question, “how much does it cost to charge an electric vehicle,” is Googled many thousands of times per day. There are rules of thumb and anecdotal answers from a variety of sources. When it comes to validating claims, there is nothing better than hard data. Fortunately, if you have solar panels with the Enphase Enlighten app and …
Ground Mounted Solar Panels
People ask us sometimes if we do ground-mounted solar panels. Solar photovoltaic systems can be mounted on traditional solar rails with engineered racking systems. And, YES, we install solar panels on ground racks. But NO, we do not recommend them in Southwest Florida. Why You Should, Or Shouldn’t, Consider a Ground Mount It might seem like a great idea at …
What Florida’s Net Metering Law Changes Mean
THIS LEGISLATION WAS (THANKFULLY) VETOED BY GOVERNOR DESANTIS. It was never passed into law. This article remains in place for historical reference. Original Article: In case you missed it, the Florida legislature passed a significant change to the Net Metering laws in Florida. These are the rules that allow solar energy producers to “sell” excess energy production back to the …
How Much Space do Enphase Encharge Batteries Require?
Solar energy with battery backup is increasing in popularity as technology evolves and systems become less expensive and more consumer-friendly. Enphase’s Encharge batteries, part of the Enphase Ensemble system, are a go-to option for consumers who have or are considering Enphase microinverters. The undisputed leader in microinverter technology for solar photovoltaic systems, Enphase dominates the local market. One of the …
Business Electricity Rates and Solar Panels
Demand Charges Change the Calculus I think you will agree – most people don’t really understand how utility companies charge for electricity. That is doubly true of business owners and executives because businesses are often billed in more complicated ways than residential customers. It’s hard enough to understand bank charges and cell phone bills. Electricity billing is often a nebulous …
How To Best Use The Enphase Enlighten App
The Enphase Enlighten app comes standard with every Enphase microinverter system we install. This app is free from the manufacturer and allows you to view your system performance. We create this video to help you navigate the app and demonstrate how to use it to best understand your energy flows. This video is best viewed in full screen on a …
Large Bubble in Pool – Solar Pool Heating Startup
Watch this video to learn what it means when you get large bubbles in the pool when your solar pool heating system starts up each time. When your pool pump shuts off or your solar panels shut off during the day, the water in the panels drains down to the pool. The panels fill up with air. When your solar …
Enphase Launches the IQ8 Microinverter – Backup Without Batteries
Enphase has launched the new IQ8 microinverter, which comes with the promise of allowing you to use your solar panels off-grid without batteries. Until now, solar panels were either grid-interactive which means they shut down with the loss of the grid, or they worked with batteries to provide backup power. Before you get too excited, let’s get something straight. Solar …
Solar Pool Heating Automated Valve Manifold Explanation
Automated Solar Pool Heating Valve Manifold Explained In this video, we explain how our automated solar valve heating manifolds work. The manifold shown here is based on our standard valve setup. Your valves may vary due to a variety of circumstances, but this is the most common arrangement for manifolds installed by Florida Solar Design Group. Keep in mind, your …