San Diego Commercial Solar

Here is how SunPath’s commercial solar system installations work.

1. First, solar modules made up of several photovoltaic cells are mounted on the roof and/or grounds of your business facility, where they convert sunlight into direct current (DC) power.

2. This DC power gets sent to an inverter, which in turn converts the DC current into Alternating Current (AC) power, the same kind that gets sent from your utility company’s power grid.

3. The AC power then travels to your facility’s electrical service panel, which houses your property’s electrical fuses. From the service panel, power is distributed as needed throughout your facility. 

4. When your solar energy system produces excess power, it flows into the utility grid through your utility meter. This causes the meter to run backwards, and each time this happens you gain a credit with your utility company.

Utility companies have a net metering agreement with their customers, stating that they will credit their customers’ accounts for excess electricity produced that is fed back into the grid.

As a customer, you have the option of installing a Time-of-Use Meter, which enables you to be credited at different rates, depending on what time you excess power is fed into the utility grid. Peak rate hours are usually weekday and summer afternoons. If you send power back into the grid during peak hours, you will be credited at the higher, peak hour rates. Most customers, especially commercial, benefit from the installation of a time-of-use meter.