SOLutions in Solar Electricity

How do I place my equipment order?
After we have reviewed your power requirements and designed your PV system, you simply place your order. You can pay by personal check, bank check or bank transfer to SOLutions in Solar Electricity. References available upon request. Our mailing address is: SOLutions in Solar Electricity, P. O. Box 5089, Culver City, CA 90231
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Do you take credit card orders?
Yes, but we are very cautious because there is a lot of credit card fraud. You can use Mastercard or Visa if you want to pay the additional 3% that the credit card processing company charges. We encourage you to save your money and instead pay by check or bank transfer.
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Can you order on-line?
No. You can order THE NEW SOLAR ELECTRIC HOME book on-line, but we are not an on-line store. We give you expert advice and custom PV system design.
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Do you ship to Alaska, Hawaii and take international orders?
We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii. Freight charges are always going up so we recommend that you buy from local suppliers. We do ship by UPS and freight truck to locations in the continental U.S. We only accept international orders that are paid by bank transfer.
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How long does it take to get my equipment?
Orders are promptly shipped directly to you from the equipment manufacturer or from distribution warehouses. We drop-ship direct to you to eliminate extra handling costs and shipping fuel consumption and pollution. Delivery is typically within 3 weeks.
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How do I check the status of my order?
Please Email us or call 310-202-7882.
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What about sales tax?
We charge California sales tax to deliveries in California only.
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What are the product warranties?
We sell new, first quality equipment that carries the manufacturer's warranty. Module warranties are 20 to 25 years on power output. A 30 year design life for PV systems is realistic, but solar modules should last even longer. The best way to determine a module's potential life is by how long the manufacturer has produced that specific cell technology and by that model's measured field performance. Inverters have 5 or 10 year warranties.
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How much PV do I need?
Read THE NEW SOLAR ELECTRIC HOME book to determine how much PV to buy. Then Email us to finalize your design and order your equipment.
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What's the difference between STC and PTC and real-world AC?
STC stands for Standard Test Conditions which are 1,000 watts per square meter solar irradiance, 1.5 Air Mass and 25 degrees C. cell temperature. STC are indoor factory test conditions. PTC stands for PV USA Test Conditions which were developed at the PV USA test site at Davis, California. PTC are 1,000 watts per square meter solar irradiance, 1.5 Air Mass, and 20 degrees C. ambient temperature at 10 meters above ground level and wind speed of 1 meter per second. PTC is more like "real-world" conditions but does not factor in dust and dirt, module mismatch, DC and AC wire losses, actual inverter efficiency, and electric storage efficiency if you have batteries.

The higher the cell temperature which is perfectly normal in the real world results in the lower power. Silicon crystal cells average about 30 degrees C. above ambient temperature in the real world and cell voltage drops as temperature increases (amps change very little). Volts times amps equal watts which is power. Thus, a module's power output in the real world is lower than its power when measured in the factory where cell temperature is controlled to 77 degree F. (25 C). A rough rule of thumb is deduct 10% from STC for single crystal PV, 12% for polycrystalline PV and 5% for amorphous silicon PV. For example, a 150-watt polycrystalline solar module in bright sun may only put out 132 watts DC and 120 watts AC.

Real-world AC factors in solar array temperature loss (5% to 12%), dust and dirt (2% to 4%), module mismatch (2%), DC and AC wire losses (2% to 3%), real inverter loss (5% to 15%) and electric storage loss if you have batteries (15%). Well designed batteryless PV systems usually have a DC STC-to-real-AC conversion efficiency of 75% to 80%. Well designed battery PV systems usually have a DC STC-to-real-AC conversion efficiency of 65%. For more information read THE NEW SOLAR ELECTRIC HOME book.
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