Residential Solar Panels 101
Solar Panels 101 – How Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Cells Works
Solar panels create energy by absorbing photons from sunlight. The photons react with the photoelectric material in the solar modules, knocking electrons. These electrons are captured in the form of a direct electrical current, creating power for your home.
Convert Sunlight to Energy
This direct current generated by a photovoltaic (PV) module has to go through another step before it can be used to power your home. The current is run through a device called an inverter (or power converter) which converts the direct current (DC) from the solar modules to alternating current (AC), which can be used in your home and distributed to the utility grid. During this process, 14-18% of the energy produced by the panels is lost.
Distribute Energy to your home
After being converted to alternating current, power travels from the inverter to your electrical service panel (your breaker box). The power from the electrical panel is then distributed to any electrical loads in your home.
Run your Meter Backwards
When excess power is produced by the solar panels system, the power will flow into the grid through your electric meter. This will cause your meter to run backward gaining you a credit with the utility company.
Net Metering
The net metering legislation states that the utility company must credit you at retail rates (the same rate they would have charged you). Therefore, time of use customers will be credited peak rates for power fed into the grid during peak hours.
What Makes a House Suitable for Solar Panels?
There are several factors that determine how suitable a home is for solar panels:
- The number of sun hours received by your geographical location. Also known as solar isolation, this is the amount of sunlight that a geographical location receives in a typical year.
- The amount of shading received by your roof during peak production hours. Less is better. Tall structures (other homes or buildings, trees, telephone poles, etc.) can restrict the amount of sunlight that reaches an installed solar panel. The shade of those other structures create can reduce the effectiveness of your solar panels system.
- Available roof or ground area for the solar panels system. A solar panels system requires space for installation.
300+ 5-Star Reviews
Pierre Désilets
17:19 13 Mar 23
Nous avons fait changer toutes les fenêtres de notre villa et sommes très satisfaits de FSA et les recommandons fortement à tous nos amis!
Ana iris Cardoso
19:08 09 Mar 23
Excelente Damaris Bravo muy profesional en todos los aspectos y estoy muy complacida con su servicio.
Kokoro Dojo
17:08 08 Mar 23
They are very professional; Jay Cruz went to our home yesterday. He gave us an excellent presentation of their products and all the details we need to know about the windows we are going to install in our house. So far, we are very happy.
Dimarvi Corporation
14:23 08 Mar 23
Excelente trabajo, muy conforme
Oneil Maragh
15:41 07 Mar 23
Service man and installation was done by professional installer,also speedy , reliable and knowledgeable, will continue to use this company..
Sarah Hannah-Spurlock
03:57 02 Mar 23
Worked with Brian on our impact window and door estimate. He was responsive and patient and answered all of our questions thoroughly. He walked us through the process and made us feel comfortable with our purchase.
Libby Manchego
15:36 01 Mar 23
Los instaladores muy eficiente y colaborar Daniel el supervisor muy amable y profesional me ayudo mucho en mi projecto
L Togami
14:51 25 Feb 23
Thank you customer support team (Starr, Tracey, Isa) and Danny and the installation crew!Review for start to finish. Miami Beach truly is a permitting nightmare like everyone says so I knew I had to find a company who was professional and responsive, to keep me the loop of everything going on etc. Windows took 3 months to manufacture. 6 months to get the permit, another 3-4 months for the permit edit. 10 months total, not bad considering this city.At the end of the day I am happy I picked Florida Solar and Air. the organization, transparency and followup for the job to make sure everything got on time and correctly made it worth the price, and I did not feel ignored just because this was a smaller job for a condo unit.They were nice to my animals who were unhappy with the construction. While there were other places who quoted cheaper, they were flakey and did not feel like they 100% know what they were doing or talking about. It didn’t feel likeHurricanes Windows are not something I am willing to risk to find out if it was properly installed
Allykutty Valiakandathilmani
15:01 21 Feb 23
Met Jay Cruz,explained in details and liked the service of the office people and Ms Terri was very helpful in getting the the the things done.we appreciate the service and we recomend them to others. To be continue . instillation is not happend yet.
wade Marshall
01:04 20 Feb 23
After working with two separate companies on our roof and getting no where with them. Half the roof was torn off from one company and never finish, we met with Brian Guzman about our roof.and he help us get it done! His company was able to get the permit switched over quickly and start the work! Brian Guzman took the time to keep me posted with info on every step going on. After finishing the work on the roof we also decided to get storm windows and front door!! we are so glad and very in love with the work that was done. Not only was the work finished quickly but it was well done.
Diana Humphrey
03:11 16 Feb 23
Damaris is the best , she makes you feel like it's her home that's being worked on , love her presentation.
Luis Perez
18:21 14 Feb 23
Kelcey Etheridge
14:15 14 Feb 23
Guys was great and professional. I recommend every one use them.
Alex Vo
23:05 10 Feb 23
I was a little skeptical at first but pretty happy with the outcome of all the works that was done at my house . Michael is very professional and informative. He's very patience with all my questions and concerns. The installer was quick and efficient. The company definitely know what they doing. Would definitely recommend them. Thank you.
Mia Martin
04:30 05 Feb 23
I am very pleased with this company Florida Solar and Air my mom is a customer of theirs and loves her windows has never had an issue with them and the staff is great and responsive . The receptionist are lovely helpful and so are the salesman thank you guys
Valerie
01:23 03 Feb 23
Wonderful company to work with. Damaris was very thorough in her explanation of the process and our family felt confident going into going through with getting our windows. I’m very happy thus far!
Cristhy Garcia
17:18 02 Feb 23
We used Florida Solar & Air for our impact window and sliding door installation. The process with our windows was extremely efficient, thorough, and exceptional in quality. Our project manager, Jesus Martinez, was always on top of making sure we understood each step of the process and was quick to address any questions or concerns we had. His team was also super friendly, kind and super super efficient with what they do. We had the materials dropped off on a Friday and everything was installed and passed final inspection in less than a week. Star was also very accommodating with the installation timeline as we had some unexpected travel and needed some flexibility.
Alejandra Garcia
08:10 31 Jan 23
We are only halfway done with the installation of impact windows with Florida Solar and Air on our mom's apartment but, I wanted to express my gratitude to Ms. Star Torres for great costumer service with a human touch throughout this process.
Jodi Hart
18:38 27 Jan 23
This company is not just words. They follow through with action. They are very thorough and quick. They explain everything to you with honesty. Their work is impecable. I will never use small sub contractors again for these type of big jobs. Their price is worth every penny. All the permits are legitimate and taken care ahead of time and also permit for final inspection. The crew was hard working. This job was completed in a 2-3 day time frame. Everything was cleaned up appropriately. The foreman Chris(the foreman) answer all my extra questions with clarity and in detail. When needed he was up on the roof also making sure everything was done correctly. He id very respectful and friendly. My roof with last for years and I have no more worries about it. I would recommend this company Solar and Air for sure.
Frank Lohmar
17:37 26 Jan 23
I recently had my roof repaired by Florida Solar and Air. I was very apprehensive because the previous company I used was very unprofessional. I posted a listing on Angie’s List and thankfully was out in contact with Florida Solar and Air.The representative over the phone had great phone etiquette, very inviting and professional. A representative by the name of Mark came to the house and explained the whole process, he took extra time out of his day to make sure I understood. There was an issue with a change in the roofing codes which required some extra work to be done. Mark met with me again and explained everything which was great, he was so inviting and knowledgeable.The roofing process went by smoothly, it was a bit noisy of course but the workers got the job done in a decent amount of time. I was in contact with a gentleman by the name of Tony and he was very helpful as well. Everything went smoothly and they were very communicative, they kept me in the loop about what was going on which I appreciated.The roof reconstruction and window installation was a bit of a hassle due to the structure of my roof but they figured it out and fixed the discrepancies. Contractors were out and approved all of the work in a timely manner. Florida Solar and air even gave me a senior discount. The price of my new roof and roof reconstruction came out to be very decently priced.Florida Solar and Air went above and beyond my expectations. Getting your roof repaired and replaced can be a very grueling and stressful endeavor but Florida Solar and Air made the process seamless. I cannot recommend them enough. Thank you Florida Solar and air team! My new roof looks amazing!
Areas We Serve
Miami-Dade:
305.428.2555
Broward:
954.828.0208
Palm Beach:
561.337.1373
Areas We Serve
Miami-Dade:
305.428.2555
Broward:
954.828.0208
Palm Beach:
561.337.1373