Killing Your Solar Investment with Vampire Energy!
Standby. Vampire. Phantom energy. The same phenomena, different names, but no matter what you call it, it adds up to the same thing: energy being used to power items that you are not actively using. Needless to say, this puts an unnecessary drain on your wallet and/or PV solar array. Well, we’re here to tell you how to kill off that vampire once and for all and to further maximize your investment in solar.
What Exactly Is Phantom Energy?
There are a whole host of appliances and electronics around the house that technically remain on, even when not “on” or in use. Either they remain is standby mode, such as TV’s so that when you turn them “on” they light up and start displaying immediately; or they draw energy to power ancillary elements within the components themselves such as clocks. The EPA estimates that idle electronic devices use up to $10 billion in energy annually.
What does that look like in the home? We looked at four people in our office as examples of how vampire energy impacts our everyday lives. We based our calculations upon this handy chart that enumerates the average amount of energy needed to power electronics that are not being actively used.
Our four participants used very different kWh totals due to the different types and quantities of items used in their homes. For the sake of this example, we only counted the standby or “off” usage of electronic gadgets. The items used? Everything from cell phone chargers to laptops, coffee makers and microwaves, to TVs and cable boxes.
Here is an illustration of how much energy each person used to power unused items per year:
As you can see the highest phantom energy user stands to save about 4,604 kWh a year! How much are you inadvertently using? How much of your solar array is powering items you don’t need to have on? What does this look like in a dollar amount?
As you can see, failing to address phantom energy has the potential to sap your solar investment of life!
The Silver Bullet?
It would be a total drag to go around unplugging our gadgets individually, so instead use power strips. These are easier to place within reach and affectively ensure that all items drawing electricity are fully and effectively turned off. What’s the payoff? Faster payback and bigger bang for your buck!
We encourage you to look around your house and kill those vampires!
Installation Pictures From The Sky: MSSI Installation in Annapolis, Maryland
This customer in Annapolis was looking to lower her high electric bills due to her hobby as an aquarist; her fish tanks were driving up her usage. Interested in high-quality equipment that will stand the test of time, she opted to go with MSSI and our commitment to using the highest-quality and incredibly well-vetted equipment.
Working diligently, we designed a 7.8 kW system that would cut about a quarter of her electrical usage. Since inception in December 2015, this system has generated a total of 8.62 MWh of electricity, equal to having planted 336 trees and saving 13,343 lbs of carbon dioxide from entering our atmosphere.
Earlier this year, we explored small trees and large shrubs that create solar-friendly shade. Today, we’re going to look at how to create that much needed, yet solar-friendly shade directly on the walls of your home during those “dog days of summer.” First, we’ll talk a little bit about passive solar design principles. Then vines that can be used in conjunction with structures to create even more shade. In either case, the goal here is to create protective shading on your home that will not interfere with your solar panels.
Use Passive Solar Design
Passive solar design seeks to use what we know about the sun’s angle to our homes during each season and using that knowledge to our advantage. Utilize passive solar front porch roof structures, pergolas, arbors, awnings or other horizontal measures to shade the front; use them to shade windows, walls and doors in the summer while allowing winter sun to hit these surfaces and warm up the home.
When building a shade pergola for a conventional home using passive solar design techniques angle the slats to allow winter sun in and to block summer sun from coming in. The picture below is a good illustration of the concept.
Use a similar approach when installing an overhang. Overhangs should be long enough that they keep the high summer sun from coming in, but short enough to allow the lower winter sun to stream into your home. One could design an entire set of pergolas, overhangs and window awnings that allow for plenty of direct light in the wintertime, while allowing none during the summer!
Using Vines To Create Living Barriers To The Sun
While there are great many vines out there that we associate with being nuisances (Japanese Honeysuckle and Kudzu are two that come to mind), there are plenty of native, non-invasive vines that are quite polite, are beneficial for local pollinators and “play nice” with neighboring plants and structures.
Coral Honeysuckle is a high-climbing, twining vine 3-20 ft. long, with gorgeous red flowers appearing in mid-spring. Hummingbirds adore this plant. Full sun, clay soil is well tolerated and is semi-evergreen.
Pipevine, also known as Dutchman’s Pipe is a fun vine with unusually-shaped flowers that is deciduous and looses its leaves in the winter. Larval host for the Pipevine Swallowtail. Sun to part-shade, fast-growing and likes moist soil.
Passionflower is well-known for its exotic flowers, but less known as a native plant! A sun lover and a fan of clay soil, Passionflower is a larval host for six different species of butterfly!
Using plants for shade is not only functional, but is also gorgeous and a great option for protecting and providing habitat for our pollinators!
As we’re sure many of you are aware, SREC values have really taken a nose dive in the State of Maryland this past year. It’s been a major bummer for us and we know that it’s been hitting our current customers hard. While we speculate that the market is depressed for several reasons, we do expect the market to reinvigorate this winter. Additionally, there is some good news for some solar customers in Maryland who live close enough to DC to enable them to sell their SRECs in the DC marketplace. Knowing how bad the market is right now in Maryland, we are eager to share this tip and to impart our knowledge on the situation.
See blog post on Flett Exchange for more info with regard to SRECs here in Maryland.
Why Has The Market for SRECs Dropped In Maryland?
Many people in the industry, ourselves included, have theorized that the market has been depressed for two reasons: low demand combined with high supply. In the first instance, there was an urgency to go solar in 2015, especially late 2015/early 2016, as the Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit was set to expire in December 2016. In fact, PV solar has been so popular in Maryland that 124 megawatts of PV solar was installed in 2015, double to the amount installed in 2014! While this amount of deployed solar has been great for the environment and is propelling little Maryland towards the head of the pack in efforts to combat greenhouse gas production nationally, it has depressed our market by flooding the market with more supply than is demanded.
That brings us to our next topic: demand. In Maryland, it is the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards put forth and set into law by the Maryland General Assembly that drives the SREC market. The RPS dictates how much of our consumer market electricity must be generated from renewable sources. If a Maryland utility is unable to generate their own renewable energy, either via wind or solar, they can either pay a stiff fine or they can buy SRECs from residents and businesses that have privately invested in solar and are generating clean energy. 2016 has been what is referred to as a “compliance year.” A year in which utilities were well situated to meet their legislated goals and did not have a high demand for SRECs. In combination with an over-abundance of SRECs, the low demand has meant a depression in the market and falling prices. Essentially, the current RPS has been unable to keep up with the popularity of solar here in Maryland.
We Remain Hopeful That SRECs Will Regain Lost Value
As we reported in an earlier piece, the General Assembly in Maryland is well aware of the situation and are taking steps to stem the tide of bad SREC tidings. During the last few days of the last session, members passed revisions to the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards contained within the Clean Energy Bill that aimed to strengthen and escalate the deployment of renewables. Unfortunately, the Governor Larry Hogan declined to sign it into law. While this an unfortunate turn of events, especially considering his prior approval of the more stringent 2016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Bill, the Clean Energy Bill was passed by a veto-proof majority and is expected to be passed in the new year when the General Assembly reconvenes. The bill is thought to drive the demand for SRECs back up.
Is Your Home in Maryland Servicing a Feeder to DC? If So, You Are Able To Sell Your SRECs in the DC SREC Market
According to PEPCO, “in some parts of our service territory, electricity feeders may be located in Maryland, but serve residential or commercial customers in the District of Columbia. When behind-the-meter solar or other renewable energy generators are located on those feeders in Maryland, the customer is eligible for Solar Renewable Energy Credits in the District.” This may be a boon so to some Marylanders. Currently, Washington DC SRECs are selling for $480, per SREC. Check the maps below to see if you’re located on a PEPCO DC feeder line.
One of the most common questions we field at MSSI is, what can solar do for me in combination with how fast can I pay back the system I’ve had installed? These two questions are intimately involved and have everything to do with your electric usage. We pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour. Knowing our monthly kWh usage gives us a picture of what our usage is annually. Once we know that number, we can more accurately know what size system you need to meet your goals and/or current electrical demand. For instance, if I’m using 12,000 kWh per year and I want to cover my usage 100% with solar, my solar array would need to produce 12,000 kWh or more. On average Americans use 10,932 kWh per year. The higher your usage, the larger system you will need to have installed. The eventual size of your system depends upon your usage, goals and budget.
Finding Your Annual Usage On Your Bill
So, how do you find your annual usage without having to create an elaborate Excel sheet that you plod you way through for a year? While obscure, your bill will tell you. Below are examples of utility bills from across the state and how to discern that information from your bills.
Baltimore Gas and Electric
Above the portion that you would tear off to send in with your payment, you will find the Adjusted Annual Usage. This is your current year-to-date electrical usage. The total kWh in this example is 16,485. In order to cover this usage the solar array installed would need to generate 16,485 kWh or more per year.
Delmarva Power
Extrapolating annual usage from the Delmarva Power bill is a little trickier than with simply finding a single number on the BGE bill because Delmarva provides your yearly kWh usage in a handy bar graph. The horizontal line along the bottom of the bar graph notates the years. In the above example the years in question are 2009 and 2010. The perpendicular line along the left hand side is indicative of the amount of electricity used.
In this instance, it looks like this family used:
May ’10: 700
June ’10: 1250
July ’10: 1260
August ’10: 650
September ’10: 630
October ’10: 700
November ’10: 650
December ’10: 1260
January ’10: 800
February ’10: 1500
March ’10: 1200
April ’10: 820
Total: 11,420 kWh
Potomac Electric Power Company/PEPCO
Like Delmarva Power, PEPCO uses a bar graph to convey annual electric usage. In this instance we’re looking at about 12,400 kWh per year.
Potomac Edison
Potomac Edison bills include both a bar graph and a line item that denotes the “Last 12 Months Use (KWH).”
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative/SMECO
SMECO gives you a bar graph that takes all the guess work out because your monthly usage is numerated above each bar. In this instance, the yearly usage adds up to 29,751.
This diminutive, yet powerful 6.38 kW system was installed in December 2015. This Customer was looking to cover 100% of his annual kilowatt hour usage. With this 6.38 system, he has been able to do just that!
As of October 2016, this system has saved 11,640 lbs of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and is equivalent to having planted 293 trees! Woot, woot!
Can You Afford NOT To Purchase Your PV Solar Array?
In this piece, we’re going to explore the differences between leasing and purchasing solar and then dig into the returns on investment that can be realistically expected from obtaining a solar array of your very own for your home or business.
According to Consumer Reports, the vast majority of Americans who go solar (72%) are leasing their panels or are participating in a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). With virtually no upfront costs, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Americans are choosing to go solar with a Lease/PPA. It’s predictable that the high introductory costs associated with PV solar causes a lot of people to move away from purchasing and towards the alternatives presented by leasing and PPA’s. In doing so, they lose out on the real financial benefits that accompany the purchase of their own PV solar array.
We recently heard someone say that, “purchasing a PV solar array costs as much as a car note!” It sure does, but what solar gives back is what makes this a poor comparison. When looking past the initial similarity in price tag, purchasing solar makes a great long-term investment; a car does not. You may pay the same amount for a car, but the difference is that once you’re done paying down the solar array you will be looking at a predictable and reliable source of additional income for the remaining life of the system (10-15 years). That’s 10 – 15 years of free energy!
Of course we’re being a bit prejudiced, but we really do think that investing in solar is a wise choice and something worth pursuing.
Break It Down Now: What’s the Difference Between a Lease and a Power Purchase Agreement?
While leasing entails that you pay a set price every month for the panels on your roof, with a Power Purchase Agreement you purchase the energy generated by the array per kWh. For example, if you are leasing a 10kW solar array from a leasing company for an agreed upon price of $200/month, you will be paying the leasing company $200/month regardless of how much energy the array produces. If you had a Power Purchase Agreement for the same size system, instead of monthly installments, you would be paying an agreed upon price per watt and your cost would be based on the amount of energy that the system produces. At the end of the day, both add up to the same thing: you do not own the panels and do not have access to the considerable financial advantages associated with going solar. In our newsletter and blog, we’ve recently highlighted the incentives available to Marylanders who choose to go solar, so let’s take a brief moment to look at Solar Leasing and PPA’s and the drawbacks associated with them.
The Financial Disadvantages of Leasing and PPA’s
In a Leasing/PPA situation, the solar company essentially has ownership of the roof they install on. In common parlance it is suggested that you are leasing the panels from them, but in fact, it’s the other way around; the Leasing/PPA company is leveraging your roof as a means to turn a profit, while enticing the lessee with modest savings and no upfront costs. Why do I say this? Several reasons:
Loss of Incentives
There are several “payback” financial incentives given out by the Federal government, State government and sometimes even Local governments (refer to blog to see the incentives available to Marylanders) that are forfeited when a system is leased. This also includes the value-added benefits of solar: Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) and Net Metering.
Let’s say that you have a system that is generating 12,000 kWh a year. In this instance, you would be entitled to 12 SRECs whether you use the energy or not. Depending on market rates that’s an additional $216-$2,220 a year. Using that same scenario, if you’re generating 12,000 kWh a year, but only using 9,000 kWh a year, not only would you be paying nothing for electricity, but according to the Net Metering laws set in place, your utility would have to pay you for the additional energy you provided for the grid. Utilities in Maryland pay 7-9 cents a kWh and will pay PV solar array owners for the energy provided if it has a net worth of over $25. Additionally, the installation of a purchased PV solar system here in Maryland is a home improvement that cannot be added to your Property Tax assessment as an improvement to be taxed. Pretty awesome!
Lastly, the purchase of a system has the potential to free you from having to pay for your electricity for 25-30 years. A Lease or a PPA will never free you from that cost. Purchasing your own PV solar array is an investment that keeps on giving!
Selling a Home
Due to the long nature of Lease and PPA agreements, it is often the case that the original lessee may want to sell their home at some point during the term of the contract. This is made more difficult if the homeowner does not own their panels. When it comes to selling, the homeowner has a few options, they can Transfer the Lease/PPA to the new homeowner, prepay the agreement, have the system moved to their new home, or in the case of a PPA they can purchase the system outright (losing out on incentives already redeemed by the company you signed the PPA with).
When it comes to transferring your Lease or PPA, the homebuyer must meet certain qualifications: they must be willing to assume all of your rights and obligations under the agreed upon contract, in addition to qualifying for one of these three typical standards: having a FICO score above a particular level (usually about 650), by paying in cash for the home, or be willing to pay a $250 “credit exception fee.” Once these qualifications are met the transfer can go through to the buyer.
If the homebuyer does not want to go this direction, the homeowner has the option of Prepaying the Lease/PPA and just transferring the Use of the System. If this sounds like an awful option, do not worry, you are a completely sane person. With this option, you are essentially purchasing a solar system for your homebuyer that the homebuyer will only get to utilize for the amount of time left on the contract. During this time, they are responsible for all parts of the contract except for the monthly payment portion. This is very appealing for the homebuyer, as they essentially get a free solar system.
With moving the system you have two options. You can get the lessor to move it for you or you can go with a third party. It is wise to go with the lessor as getting a third party to move the system could potentially void any limited warranties that may be in place. This can be costly though. The price can be different depending on the installer. From the contracts we have seen, the installer requires that they perform an audit of the new property for $499. Then, if they deem the new property viable, they will perform the move for a minimum of $499. Imagine all your moving expenses, then add at least $1,000.
Although we have not seen this offered in a lease, in a PPA you have the option to purchase the system before the expiration of the contract. This can be done by calculating the amount you would have paid by using a production estimate and then multiplying that by the average kWh price you would have been subject to (times a 5% discount – maybe to make up for the fact they know they are overcharging?). Either way, if you think there is a chance you will sell your home in the next 25 years, read your lease or PPA terms and conditions very carefully…They don’t make it easy!
Additionally, by signing a lease or PPA agreement, there is a significant loss in potential home value. It is proven that adding a purchased solar system to your home increases its overall value. Then when you factor in the extra hassle of transferring or moving that leased/PPA system, you could even say you are depreciating the value of your home in a potential homebuyer’s eyes; not to mention the extra costs you could incur by having to buy out the remainder your contract.
Economy of Scale and Quantity Over Quality
Another drawback to big solar companies leasing or PPA option is that they are working within an economy of scale that does not see you as an individual. As of 2015 SolarCity boasts 190,000 customers in 16 states and have access to 190,000+ roofs from which they can deploy solar. In the lease/PPA business model, the solar array that they’re installing is an investment for the lessor and their backers, not for the lessee. While the Leasing/PPA scenario may be cheaper at the outset, the long term savings and benefits are modest.
Because they’re working within a much larger economy-of-scale Leasing/PPA companies do not need to spend as much money on equipment, nor do they need to confine themselves as strictly to the optimally-oriented roofs. We often have customers ask us why we do not install on northern facing roofs. In short, they do not produce as well since they face away from the most direct sunlight. Why would you pay full price for a panel that will, at best, only produce 50% – 75% of its maximum production? This is different for lease/PPA companies who are getting fixed payments from their customers, plus the added incentives, Net Metering benefits and SRECs. For lease/PPA companies the best bang for the buck is quantity over quality.
Figure 1: The figure above is determined using the rate of inflation for electricity in the US since 2000 and the current cost of electricity for residences in Maryland. The Lease and PPA numbers are from ACTUAL contracts from the largest Leasing/PPA company in the U.S. The Purchase numbers come from a system designed to closely mirror the size of the lease system utilized by the aforementioned Leasing/PPA company’s contract. The PPA system size is irrelevant as PPA costs are determined by power produced and not the overall size of the system. When placed at the optimal tilt and direction, each of these system sizes will cover all electrical usage of the average Maryland resident. The purchase numbers take into account all incentives that would be received (Federal ITC, Maryland Grant, SRECs, and Net Metering Benefits). The purchase numbers DO NOT take into account the amount of value a homeowner has added to their home. The lease and PPA take into account NO benefits as leases and PPA’s forfeit such incentives to the lessor.
Overall Cost Benefits of Purchasing PV Solar
When comparing the yearly costs for solar, purchasing is the only way to go. As seen in Figure 1, the yearly cost for purchasing your system stays consistent for the entire duration of the payback (assuming you took out a loan; if you paid completely out of pocket, you would expect to see no yearly costs) while the yearly cost of a Lease/PPA only rises by the predetermined escalation rate. While designed to ensure that you would not be paying more for your solar-generated electricity, this escalation rate may not actually result in lower payments. It is quite possible that you could be paying more for the power from the array than you would have paid staying on the utility after as little as ten years. This is due to the fact that the yearly PPA kWh price may rise faster than the prices per kWh that the utility could be offering. This is stated and built into the contract- we call this the “kicker.” The main reason the PPA company includes this inflated escalation rate is to maintain a steady, consistent revenue stream. Since the value of the SRECs generated by the system you are leasing steadily decrease in price, they must increase the amount they get from you per kWh to compensate for the loss.
At the end of the lease or PPA term, you will have spent as much money on your system as you would have with a purchased system. When you include the amount you would have gotten back in incentives, you actually end up paying substantially more for your solar system, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: The graph above compares the total amount of money spent on a SolarCity PPA, SolarCity Lease, and MSSI Purchase both before and after incentives. All Lease and PPA numbers are from a standard 20 year contract.
Those are just upfront costs and totals!! When you begin to compare savings, you begin to wonder why anyone ever chooses a Lease or PPA Agreement!
The Long Term Gains Associated with Purchasing PV Solar
Although a PPA/Lease is initially a cheaper option, when it comes to the long term gains, purchasing is, without a doubt, the most financially beneficial way to go solar. When you lease or sign a PPA, you are paying continuously for the full length of the contract, which is conventionally 20 years. With a purchased system, you are expected to be receiving energy for 25-30 years. This is an extra 5-10 years of solar energy and if your system paid for itself (through the avoided electric purchase from the utility and incentives) in 10-12 years (the average for purchase system paybacks), you would be seeing 15-18 years of free energy. This can catapult your savings! Not only are you no longer paying for your system, you are getting free energy, money for your SRECs, you have increased the value of your home, and you are potentially getting paid by your utility! In figure 3 you can see this in action. Initially, with the Lease and PPA, you are saving more. Then around year 8-10 the purchase option surpasses the Lease and PPA in savings. Once you hit that 12-year mark (on average), it is off to the savings races!
Figure 3: The amount of savings you would experience with the same 3 solar options used previously.
Figure 4: The difference in savings between purchasing and the other two solar options.
Figure 4 illustrates in more detail the money you could lose out on by not choosing to purchase your system. By the end of your system’s life, the average homeowner in Maryland, with a system built to cover their energy needs, would see tens of thousands of dollars in revenue that they would never acquire had they gone with a Lease or PPA Agreement. When you look at the long-term advantages, the option on whether to purchase your system or not becomes a no-brainer.
At the End of the Day…
If going solar is something you have been considering, you should now know that Leasing or signing a PPA Agreement is not an exemplary method to leverage your dollars. It makes it difficult to sell your home, you forfeit all financial benefits, and in the end you miss out on at least 5 figures of savings. No matter which path you choose, we urge you to thoroughly assess your contract and Terms & Conditions.
Back in early 2016 MSSI installed this 19.5 kW system in Charles County. This Customer wished to max out his rooftop and generate as much energy as possible, so we used both his barn’s and home’s roof.
Since installation in January, this system has produced a total of 14,230 kWh and is slated to cover his usage by 109% this year.
Additionally, since system turn-on in January, this family has saved 21,617 lbs of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, equivalent to 555 trees having been planted.
Picture taken from a Solar PV Array MSSI installed in Silver Spring, Maryland.
You have solar panels and you love them. You’re happy with what the sun is doing for you, but you also want a little bit of shade. We understand, so in honor of amateur horticulturalists everywhere we thought it’d be helpful to put together a starter list of small trees/large shrubs that can provide a little bit of PV-friendly shade in your landscape.
In lieu of using front porch roof structures, pergolas, arbors, awnings or other horizontal measures to shade the home, use native, slow to medium growth deciduous trees/large shrubs for the same purpose. Use species you might already be familiar with like Dogwood and Eastern Redbud. They are deciduous and by dropping their leaves in the winter, they will still let the sun in to warm the home during the winter months. Below are some you may already know and some that may be all new to you.
Redbud is a 15-30 ft. tree, it’s pink to purple and sometimes white flowers create a showy spring flower display. Vase shaped with distinctive heart-shaped leaves, turning golden in the autumn, and tolerates full sun.
Flowering dogwood is a 20-40 ft., single- or multi-trunked tree with a lovely spreading crown graced with white and sometimes pink flowers for a long bloom period during the spring. Gorgeous scarlet foliage in the autumn and produces small red berries that birds prize. Does best in part shade, but will tolerate full sun. Is also the larval host for the Spring Azure butterfly.
Serviceberry is a small, understory tree or large, multi-trunked shrub with many upright branches that grows 6-20 ft. high. Its crown is delicate and open. Multitude of white blossoms followed by a small, crimson-colored, apple-like fruit that wild birds adore. Fall foliage is orangey-red. Tolerates all light requirements.
White Fringe Tree is a 15-30 ft., deciduous tree or shrub that displays clusters of fragrant, white blossoms during the spring. After flowering, dark blue, clusters of fruits are produced. One of the last to bloom and leaf out in the spring, this will add a last burst of color to the spring show. Prefers part sun. Larval host for the Rustic Sphinx.
Erupting into golden blooms a full month before the oft-planted non-native Forsythia, Witch Hazel is a small tree that is often multi-trunked and usually growing 10-15 ft. tall. The large, crooked, spreading branches form an irregular, open crown. Its flowers are not only yellow, but deliciously-scented. During the summer months, its foliage is light green, but then turns a brilliant gold in autumn. Bark is smooth and gray and full sun brings out the best in this tree.
Large Fothergilla is a 6-12 ft., deciduous shrub with lovely crooked, multiple stems. Gorgeous blue-green foliage is colorful in autumn. The fragrant flower, appearing as a mass of stamens, is white, looks like a fuzzy bottle brush and appears after the leaves have come out. Full sun is best for this beauty.
Because of it early display of yellow flowers, Spicebush is often referred to as the “Forsythia of the wilds.” It is a single- or multi-trunked shrub, 6-12 ft. tall, with glossy leaves and graceful, slender, light green branches. Much like the aforementioned forsythia, the buds traverse across each twig and are followed by glossy red fruit. Both the fruit and foliage are aromatic. Leaves turn a colorful golden-yellow in fall. Tolerates all sun intensities and is the larval host for three butterflies: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail and Promethea Silkmoth. 3. Elderberry, Sambucas canadensis
Black Elderberry is an open and graceful shrub with both woody and herbaceous branches, growing up to 12 ft. tall. Flowers are disk-shaped, white, in broad, flat, conspicuous clusters up to 10 inches or more in diameter, appearing from May to July. Fruit is dark-purple, berrylike, and edible. Birds love them.
Arrowwood Viburnum is a 6-8 ft. shrub with multiple stems in a loose, rounded habit. White, flat-topped flower clusters are followed by dark blue berries. Gorgeous yellow to wine-red foliage in the autumn. Tolerates all intensities of sun and is the larval host for the Spring Azure Butterfly.
A Few Last Thoughts A few notes: on the west side, use vertical shading to stop the low-angle, late-afternoon sun from reaching walls and windows. This can take the form of trellises and vines on the wall, screen walls, shrub-like plants and trees. As far as height of trees, stick with a tree or shrub that isn’t going to get higher, or much higher, than the south-facing roof line. Shade from the west will shorten the productivity your PV modules each day, whereas shade from the south dramatically reduces production all day long.
Petite, Yet Mighty PV Solar Power Array in Arbutus, Maryland!
The owners of this historical home in Arbutus, Maryland wanted to go solar. While the hips in their roof presented some challenges, we were able to design and install a 3.68 kW system for them.
Installed in July 2011, this PV solar system has produced a whopping 15.65 MW of electricity, has saved 24,235 lbs from entering the atmosphere, an equivalent of having planted 610 trees!
Killing Your Solar Investment with Vampire Energy!
