This absolutely stunning property is located in Cave City, Kentucky, which is Southwest of Louisville, Kentucky, and right outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The array was a bit of a challenge because the installation is spread out over multiple roof faces, each with a slightly different slope. The local jurisdiction had actually never had a solar installation in the array, so this homeowner was truly a pioneer. The project engineering and sales process were actually very straightforward, and the utility company, Owen Electric, was a pleasure to work with. The process only took a few weeks, and very soon after all the paperwork was signed, these homeowners were on the schedule. Although this array is quite the challenge for the inexperienced, this was routine for the in-house Solar Is Freedom® installation team.
This array is made up of three separate smaller arrays, strung together through a conduit run. There are sixty-eight Jinko 320-watt panels and sixty-eight P320 optimizers on the roof. For the inverter system, the best choice was clearly a centralized SolarEdge system. This was more complicated than a normal installation though, because of the three arrays and the need for two SolarEdge inverters, one SE11400H-US, and one SE10000H-US. This presented a challenge for both stringing the panels together to ensure the proper power balance. Stringing the panels together properly avoids overloading and underperformance on any one inverter or string, and gets the most out of the system. The project will save these homeowners over $3,000 a year and will offset 100% of this family’s consumption. Over 681,000 kilowatt-hours will be produced by this array. This is the equivalent of saving almost 700,000 pounds of coal from being burned, planting over 530 acres of forest, and taking six gas-powered vehicles off the road a year.
Through 2019, the federal government is offering a 30% rebate on the total cost of a solar install. This is a huge help to many of our homeowners and makes it very affordable. The main incentive in Ohio is of course Net Metering (process explained below). State and local incentives include may also be included, such as a property tax freeze in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
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