Valley Solar's Sunny Says Blog

You’re finally ready to have your panels installed. You’ve gotten quotes, chosen a site, secured financing, acquired the necessary permits and HOA approval, and your family is coming over this weekend to eat a dinner cooked on your electric stove powered by the sun. This is the last place you want something to go wrong.

Do you know anyone who is looking to install a solar system in their home, office or agricultural business? If so, you can make an easy $1,000. It’s simple. Refer your friends, family or neighbors to our company’s Share the Sunshine and Get Paid Program and if they purchase a SunPower solar system with us, you get $1,000 in your pocket in the form of $500 cash and a $500 Tango gift card.

One of the benefits of going solar is that you will receive a federal tax credit in the amount of 30% of the price you pay after all other rebates and incentives have been applied. So if you pay $15,000 for a solar system you would have a federal tax credit of $5,000 that you can claim for that tax year.

With so many companies making solar panels it might seem hard to determine just what the best is. One way for Sacramento solar customers to determine which to choose is how many watts per square foot of panel area are produced. Solar panels have been typically 39” x 65” or 17.6 square feet and produce 250 watts, the better ones producing 345 watts for residential systems. The more output of the panels, the fewer of them you need and will allow the ability to add more in the future for an Electric Vehicle or a swimming pool. Another check point is where they are made and how long the panels have been in use; most companies are less than 5 years old with some being over 25 years in production. Warranties are a great way of telling how a company supports their product.