This is a very common question we are seeing specific to Idaho as many companies are not profitable enough to use third-party accredited solar software programs to ensure accuracy. Furthermore, roof directionality plays a key role in proper design and in recent months we have seen several proposals with false or misrepresented azimuth calculations which skew the number of panels needed. This is why EGT explains to clients that solar is not a price war but rather absolutely is a quality war. If your solar company cannot show you specific reports outlining the design assumptions and associated output projections, then they are probably not a great fit.

A well installed solar system using top of the line components will require very little maintenance over time. Typically the only item a home or business owner needs to address over the system life is simply keeping the panels clean to maximize production. This involves simply spraying the panels off with water pressure and usually can be done from ground level in times of dry weather seasons or if in a heavy agricultural area during harvest season or times of the year where dust and dirt are continually being stirred up. EGT handles all system performance issues that may arise as we are alerted instantly of any mechanical or system error codes through advanced web-based monitoring on every system installed to ensure a problem is addressed and fixed as quickly as possible to avoid production losses.

Absolutely yes! The National Association of Realtors statistics is on average 17% higher value and 20% faster sales cycles for net-zero vs. non-solar homes. Idaho has seen consistent value from appraisals over the last 2-3 years at a near dollar for dollar value based on the retail system costs within the first 5 years of the system life. EGT has had many clients sell their homes with solar and have all had very positive feedback about how they felt the solar helped not only get added value but sell faster.

Many utilities are famous for painting a long payback period for consumers exploring installing a system. If the payback was actually what they advertised Idaho would not have one of the fastest growing solar markets per capita in the US. Idaho has exploded with solar growth over the last 5 years as consumers are weighing a solar investment vs. other traditional forms of investing and quickly realizing that even with very conservative estimates of utility rate increases solar beat all other forms of investing and carries virtually no risk as the sun will always come up vs. markets fluctuating and often crashing with other investments. Pricing of the solar system and assumption of the utility rate inflation of the 25-year system warranty are the key numbers to determine relative payback period. EGT’s customers average 7-9 year to payback assuming they can fully utilize all available tax incentives discussed above.

Most every component EGT installs is warrantied for 25 years from the manufacturer. If solar is installed correctly a client should have no worries of it producing power for 30+ years. Most consumers don’t realize how mature the solar equipment market is and that it is not substantially changing from year to year like computers or other electronics consumers use daily.

No! We are a fully licensed electrical contractor and pride ourselves in our workmanship on all projects. This is becoming a very important issue in our industry as many out of state companies are hiring a myriad of electrical contractors (most of which have not installed much solar) to pull the appropriate permits and do the installation. This model is being watched closely as many of the industry problems are most often associated with this outsourced model where there are many inconsistencies from install to install and ultimately the contractor usually does not understand that they are now liable for the entire retail project costs legally as their name appears on the permit. Be very cautious of companies that are not internally licensed to do their own work.