Our installation was part of the big DC SUN Lincoln Park bulk purchase. About half of the houses went with Edge Energy because they use SunPower high efficiency panels. For row-houses with small, nearly flat roofs, high efficiency is really important if you want to generate as much power as possible. We got a 2.9 kW system with just 8 panels. The actual performance has been better than advertised: from late June until late November we generated 1800 kWh (versus our usage of 1000 kWh). It is almost embarrassing! We are delighted with the SunPower panels.
Edge Energy did a good job of accommodating our tight roof and our request for customization of the mounting brackets. Most of their installations in the suburbs are done on pitched roofs where the slope of the roof tilts the panels toward the sun. In much of DC however, the installations are on low-sloped roofs so the panels do not have that favorable angle. Edge Energy made some custom standoffs for us so that the majority of our panels are tilted. All of the mounting hardware and beams also appear to be very strong. The performance of our system is a testament to the overall engineering and installation of the system.
Edge Energy installed the system in 5 visits.
1. Rooftop qualification and discussion about options. This led to a quotation and our deposit.
2. Detailed measurements and photographs. This led to engineering drawings, permits, and prepayment for the panels. A couple of months later:
3. Drilling sealed anchors into the party-walls for the brackets. (3 guys) A few days later:
4. Mounting the brackets, beams, panels, wiring, and controller. (Because they had small army of folks doing various tasks, this step took less than 3 hours.) A few days later:
5. Software and communication installation for the SunPower monitoring system.
A few days later, Pepco authorized turning on the system full-time.
The only snafu in the Edge Energy installation was in the installation of one of the current-clamps that monitors the flow of power into or out of the Pepco meter. This needed to be moved to a different wire for the house panel to properly show our net usage. This was corrected by their master electrician a week or so after the system was turned on. It did not lead to any false billing, just wacky graphs that we called them about.... read more
Type: Residential Electric
Reviewed: 11/20/2017
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