Solarize FAQ

A solar electric system – using photovoltaic panels (PV) – generates electricity that can be used throughout your home to power the electric appliances and other devices or can be sold to your utility. To learn more about how this works, see “How do I sell my solar electricity back to the utility?” below.

 

The size of a solar electric system is often described in Watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). One kW = 1,000 W. Watts are a unit of power, just like the horsepower of an engine. They express the maximum possible output of energy the system can produce at any point in time. When sunlight strikes solar electric panels, they produce electricity that is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). One kilowatt-hour is a kilowatt of power sustained for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are the units of energy you buy from your utility and use in your home to run your appliances, lighting and electronics.

Yes. North Carolina has twice as much solar potential as Germany, the current world leader in solar power. Environment North Carolina estimates that if solar were installed on 700,000 rooftops across the state by 2030, they would provide 14% of the state’s power.

After you sign up for your free solar assessment, Solarize will examine your property and let you know if it is suitable for solar. In general, solar works well on south-, west-, and to a lesser extent east-facing roofs. There should be little or no shading from trees, buildings, chimneys or roof gables on or adjacent to your home.

If your roof is old or damaged, you may need to replace part or all of your roof before installing solar. In some instances, an electrical upgrade may be needed if your home has older wiring. Your installer will help you assess these issues.

If your rooftop is not suitable, you might consider a ground-mounted system. Ground-mounted systems are priced individually, rather than receiving Solarize tiered pricing, but every ground-mounted system installed through Solarize helps us reach our program goals.

Yes. We will provide some suggestions here. Check back soon! In the meantime, you can check out this U.S Department of Energy web page.

Anyone in a location with an active Solarize program can participate. See our Locations page for a list of locations and registration deadlines.

We are working to develop solar solutions for renters but, at this time, you must own your home in order to participate in the Solarize program, unless you can convince your landlord to sign up.

Everyone – both homeowners and renters – can save energy and improve the comfort of their homes through weatherization. You can find information on energy efficiency and home weatherization on the Department of Energy website.

No, but this arrangement is generally most beneficial financially, at least in Duke Energy and Duke-Progress territory. Solar energy you produce is sent back out to the electric lines and is available for others to use. This provides greater community benefit for solar installations.

You also benefit because Duke credits you at the retail rate for the excess power that you produce (see “How do I sell my solar electricity back to the utility?” below).

Utility customers can choose whether they want to sell their solar power to the utility using net metering or a sell-all option (see next two questions below). Which option is best for you will depend on who your electric utility is, the size of the system you install, the amount of energy it is likely to produce, and how much energy you already use. Your installer will help you decide which option makes the most sense for your situation.

When you install solar panels, if you opt for a net metering arrangement with your utility, your electric meter will be replaced. Your new meter will measure both the electricity you are purchasing from your utility and the electricity you are sending to the grid. The utility tracks both of these when it reads your meter, and you are charged only for your “net” energy use – the electricity you purchased minus what your solar system sent to the grid. If your solar system generates more kilowatt-hours than you purchase in a given month, you receive a credit on your account for those excess kilowatt-hours at the full retail rate. That credit can be used up in later months. However, all excess energy you have been credited gets zeroed out once a year, at the beginning of the summer billing season. This system of “net metering” is required of both Duke Energy and Duke Energy Progress by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (read more here). If you are not in Duke or Duke-Progress territory, ask your solar installer what your utility’s net metering terms are.

2022 Update: Duke Energy has proposed revised net metering rules to the NC Utilities Commission that could seriously impact residential customers’ payback on their solar investments, if approved by the Commission. Learn more here.  

Under the sell-all option, you still buy all of your electricity from the utility company, but also generate electricity with your solar system. The utility purchases all of the power produced by your system, which goes out to the grid for distribution, and pays you a contracted rate for the energy. The rate that you can receive from the utility for your solar power is subject to many variables including the size of the solar system, the length of the contract, and the time of day the electricity is produced, but it is likely to be about half the retail rate.  Unlike net metering, if you choose the sell-all option, you can sell the RECs (renewable energy certificates) associated with your solar production, but the amount you receive will likely not be enough to offset the advantages of net metering.

The North Carolina renewable energy tax credit, which paid back 35% of the cost of your solar system, expired on Dec. 31, 2015. Legislation was introduced to extend the credit, but it never got out of committee, and efforts to extend the credit in the budget process also failed.

The federal tax credit was scheduled to phase out starting in 2022 (from 30% of the cost of your system to 26% in 2022, dropping to 22% in 2023 and then expiring for residences and dropping to 10% for businesses).

However, the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August 2022 restored the full 30% federal tax credit for residences and businesses through 2032. 

The Federal credit can be taken over 2 years. This amount is deducted from the amount of tax you owe (before withholding). For residential customers, this means if you do not owe enough taxes, you may not be able to claim the full tax credit.

However, the Inflation Reduction Act added some provisions that help businesses and nonprofits use the tax credits:

• nonprofits formerly could not use the tax credits since they don’t pay taxes, but the IRA specifies that they can receive the credit as a direct payment in cash when they file their tax returns
• there are additional credits for qualifying projects that are installed in a low-income area or in an “energy community” such as towns that housed coal plants, and for meeting domestic content requirements; for a project that meets all these and other requirements, the total tax credit could be as much as 70% of the cost of the system
• for-profit businesses that do not pay enough tax to use the entire tax credit to which they are entitled may sell the remaining credit to another business

For more information on tax credits, please visit our tax information page.

NOTE: This information is provided as a guideline only. Consult your tax advisor for complete information applicable to your situation.

As of 2023, the answer is yes! See the answer to the previous question.

In previous years, customers of Progress Energy (now Duke Energy Progress) who installed between 2 and 10 kW AC of solar were eligible to apply for the SunSense program. They received a one-time upfront rebate and a monthly incentive payment for 5 years (for example, in 2015, Duke Energy Progress paid $250 per kilowatt AC upfront — down from $500 in 2014 — plus $4.50 per kilowatt AC each month for 5 years). SunSense customers had to switch to the time-of-use demand (TOUD) rate schedule, which was in some cases less advantageous than the flat rate schedule. Your solar installer will be able to tell you if you if SunSense or a similar incentive is available when you install.

Farms and rural small businesses may also qualify for a 50% grant from the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

If you are interested in purchasing a solar system through Solarize NC but would like financial assistance, your installer can tell you about various options. The Self-Help Credit Union has specialized loans for renewable energy systems. Details here (scroll down; note this describes a 2016 program; ask Self-Help about current loans). You may also want to explore your bank’s lending options, such as a home equity line of credit.

While installing solar does increase the resale value of your home, it should not increase your property taxes. According to the North Carolina Department of Revenue, solar PV systems that are not used to “generate income in connection with a business” should not be included in the calculation of property taxes. (Details here.)

For an average-sized (6-kilowatt) system, we estimate the increase in home value to be $11,900 on the date of installation. Selling into the Sun is a January 2015 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that analyzed the increase in home value as a result of solar PV installation.

PV Value is a tool designed for real estate assessors to calculate the value of a solar installation based on the value of the electricity savings. It is based on research from the Department of Energy’s National Labs.

All systems will be installed by our pre-approved solar installation companies — Yes Solar Solutions and Southern Energy Management. Solarize keeps prices down by offering a limited number of equipment options. During Solarize the Triangle 2016, the basic components were:

Modules (panels): REC Twin Peaks 280 kW and Hanwha Q Cell 260W; extra charge for Suniva (an all-black, US-made panel)
Inverters: standard — SolarEdge with optimizers; optional at no extra charge — SMA Sunny Boy TL (required if Secure Power Supply option is chosen; see below)

The SolarEdge optimizers allow each panel to operate separately from the others so that shading on one panel does not affect the output of the others.

Extra charges will apply for: steep roofs, three stories or more, vent-moving, online monitoring of production and any specialized equipment.

No battery storage systems are included in the Solarize package, but the systems offer flexibility for adding battery storage at a later date.

Commercial systems and ground-mounted systems will be priced individually and components will be selected on a case-by-case basis.

These systems generally do not provide power when the grid goes down. The reason is that they are automatically shut off so that power from the solar panels does not go out onto the grid and shock linemen who are working to restore power. However, the SMA Sunny Boy inverter includes an option (available to Solarize participants at no extra charge) called the Secure Power Supply, which offers a modest amount of daytime solar power when the utility grid is down. This optional feature requires the installation of an electrical outlet and switch.

The warranties offered on the standard Solarize equipment package are: 10-year (SMA) or 12-year (SolarEdge) warranty on inverters; 10-year product warranty and 25-year power output warranty on panels (guaranteed 80% of original output after 25 years); and 5-year warranty on labor.

Solar panels are largely maintenance-free. Accumulation of pollen, pine needles and other material on the panels can affect power output, but rainfall in North Carolina is generally adequate to wash off the panels and keep that effect to a minimum. The installers offer maintenance contracts averaging about 4 cents per watt per year.

When the power goes out, your solar panels will automatically stop providing electricity to your home. Since your solar system is connected to the electric grid, if someone is working on the lines to bring the electricity back on in the neighborhood, the energy from the solar system could harm the worker if the system remained on.

However, if you choose the Sunny Boy inverter, you have the option of installing the Secure Power Supply feature, which gives you a separate outlet that provides a small amount of power from your solar system during a power outage. And if you install a battery, you will be able to use your solar power when the sun is shining and use battery-stored power when there is no sun.

Battery storage technology is advancing and becoming more cost effective at an astounding rate. This technology, when combined with a solar PV system, will enable homeowners to store excess energy created by their solar system to use when the sun isn’t shining. The SMA Sunny Boy family of inverters is designed to be used in conjunction with the SMA Sunny Island System Controller for battery storage should the homeowner decide to purchase such a system in the future.

The typical residential system takes less than one week to complete.

Your installer will take care of building and electrical permits for you and the cost is included in your installation price.

If your installer tells you that it is taking longer than it should to get your new meter, or if you experience other problems with your utility interconnection process, you can file a complaint with the NC Utilities Commission. Call 1-866-380-9816 or 919-733-9277, email Consumer.Services@psncuc.nc.gov or write to:

Public Staff of the Utilities Commission
Consumer Services Division
4326 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4326

If your home is in a designated historic neighborhood, your system design might need to be reviewed prior to installation. Your installer and municipal planning office will be able to help you navigate this process and do their best to put solar on your home while providing a design that meets the requirements in your neighborhood.

Some HOAs require prior approval from the HOA Board of Directors before installing a solar system on your roof. We recommend that you review your HOA’s covenants to determine if there are any restrictions in place. Your installer can help you troubleshoot any problems you have obtaining approval from your HOA.

As of a NC Supreme Court ruling in 2022, your HOA should not be able to prevent you from installing solar unless that prohibition is expressly stated in your HOA covenants. Depending on when your HOA was established, they might be able to limit your solar installation to areas not visible from any public space such as roads. Read more here and read the earlier law here. Ask your installer for clarification and updates.

The Solar Outreach Partnership and the NC Clean Energy Technology Center (formerly the NC Solar Center) have produced these materials to help HOAs adopt solar-friendly guidelines in their covenants:

Model Solar Guidelines (2 pages)
The Benefits of Going Solar: A Resource for North Carolina Homeowners’ Associations (tri-fold brochure)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Encouraging Solar Development through Community Association Policies and Procedures (28 pp.)

Solar arrays can be installed on most roof types including shingle, metal and tile.

If your roof is in poor condition, you may need to replace it or make repairs prior to having a solar system installed. Your installer can help you determine the condition of your roof and what steps to take.

A good rule of thumb is that 1 kW of solar electric panels require about 100 square feet of space and will typically produce 1,000-1,500 kWh of electricity each year.

The Solarize installers offer a 5-year warranty on their work and the individual components of the solar system have warranties that cover any malfunctions of the equipment.

However, every homeowner should contact their own insurance provider when installing a solar array so that their coverage can be adjusted to protect their system in the event of storm damage, theft, or vandalism.

Your utility may require you to show that your homeowner’s policy carries a certain amount of liability coverage before they will allow you to interconnect to the grid. Your installer will tell you what the requirement is for your utility.

Yes, Solarize systems can be installed on businesses as well. You must own the building in which your business is located. Commercial installations will be priced individually, but will help us reach our Solarize program goals (the first 25 kW of any commercial installation will count toward the tiered pricing goals).

Yes, ground-mounted systems will be priced individually, since trenching requirements and other circumstances can vary widely from one such installation to the next. But ground-mounted systems will help rooftop customers get a lower price (the first 25 kW of any commercial installation will count toward the Solarize tiered pricing goals).

A small percentage of each Solarize purchase goes into a Sharing Solar fund to help low- and moderate-income homeowners and renters benefit from solar. In addition, every bit of energy generated by solar reduces the need for dirty coal and gas plants that foul our air and threaten our climate.