EXPERTS IN SOLAR ELECTRIC

Solar is a long term investment so any company that does new installations should guarantee the system for at least 10 years which is also the industry standard. Mission Solar Electric has been in business for 17 years and fulfilled many 10 year warranties. But as a small company, Mission Solar Electric is coming to terms with its limitations. We are conscious that we may not be around indefinitely and do not want to leave any warranties unfulfilled like many other Solar installation companies. 

The change from Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0 to 3.0 is a big deal. Instead of crediting your excess energy produced at retail rates, your credit is closer to wholesale rates. This has a big effect on the economic payback of the investment.  Fortunately, by installing Solar Batteries, and with the 30% Federal Tax Credit, and perhaps local rebates (like the San Diego Community Power Rebate) to help with the cost of Batteries, the economics can still make sense, especially since the cost of doing nothing is so high. But the initial cost, system complexity, and potential long term maintenance have all increased. 

Lithium based Solar Batteries are an exciting product. They allow Emergency Power Backup and Rate Arbitrage. The downside is cost and the equipment has a much larger physical footprint. Adding a 10 kWh Solar Battery with Emergency Power Backup can add $15,000 to the cost of the project. This includes not just the Battery itself but support equipment and the significant electrical work typically needed. Customers are also surprised by the size of the equipment and the space they need to give up. For a system without batteries, almost all equipment is on roof. Longer term, Batteries will presumably need to be replaced more often than Solar Modules or Inverters. 

This is a difficult question as the market is relatively new. You need to consider not only the best price and performance now but also who is likely to be around long term to support the product and installation. This applies both to the Installer and the Manufacturer. Generally, for new installations, we recommend the Enphase IQ Battery because it pairs well with the Enphase Microinverter (see below) which is dominant in the residential installation market. Also, Enphase has an excellent track record of supporting their products in the Solar industry. 

The Tesla Powerwall has gone through several iterations over the years. By most accounts, their most recent generation, the Powerwall 3 is a formidable product. For the first time, it includes a Solar Inverter which improves the overall economics. 

This is probably the most common request among existing customers. The original system may have been undersized or your usage may have increased because of additional loads. The big California Utilities will not allow you to install more than 1 kW (only 2-3 Solar Panels) without changing your Net Energy Metering (NEM) status. If you are NEM 1.0 or NEM 2.0, you are grandfathered in for 20 years from original approval date. This applies to the site (not the customer account name) and you do not want to jeopardize your NEM status unless it is about to expire. There is now finally an Exception: you can install a "Non-Export" system. This is a system that is not allowed to export to the Grid. Practically, it means installing a Battery. So you would have your original system and a separate "Non-Export" System with Battery.  This can be a good option.

This used to be the first question all consumers asked. Now, although they are more efficient and powerful than ever, Solar Panels are almost a commodity. The market has changed over the 17 years we have been in business and will continue to do so. In the thousands of Solar Modules we have installed, the top 5 by volume has been Kyocera, LG, QCELLS, Solarworld, and Axitec. Three of those top 5 have left the US market. Currently we are mostly installing Hyundai. Solar Panels 

Over 17 years, the majority of our systems have been SMA "Sunny Boy" String Inverter Systems, Enphase Microinverter Systems, or SolarEdge DC Optimizer Systems. Currently, for residential roof mount systems, the best solution seems to be Enphase Microinverters which have proven to be extremely reliable and have no "single point of failure". If you install a 20 Solar Panel system, it is essentially 20 parallel systems. If 1 fails, the other 19 continue to operate. This is a big advantage long term.  Enphase also has an excellent monitoring platform and Customer Service is good should a technical problem occur.

Maybe. We are familiar with most of the systems installed over the last 20 years. But much will depend on the exact equipment installed and whether we can get Manufacturer support. Best to contact us and explain the situation.