Building The Right Solar System for You!
We Design & Install Solar Systems Built Specifically for You.
Our solar design engineers at Billings Metal Roofing & Solar will design a solar system based on how you live in your home, your energy wants and needs, and on what you would like solar to do for you. We don't have just one solar design that may or may not be right for you, we design solar systems specifically for you, and will do exactly what you want them to do. No Compromises, only the best.
The next generation of solar power is here, and it is the energy future that we have been waiting for. These new 8th Generation Smart Solar Systems enable homeowners to generate, use, save and sell their power.
Smart Home energy systems.
abc Solar Power and our design experts are here to help you take control of your energy future. We want you to be happy with your new solar system, so if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact us. We are here to make your solar experience the best it can be.
Here to Serve - No Hard Sell
Residential Solar Installations as easy as ABC.
Our mission with our online Solar Power Hour is to assess your solar opportunities and provide the best solutions for you – not the biggest, nor the same one package fits all solar installation. We want "going solar" to work for you whether the sun shines or not. Let's go online and visit about your solar today.
Choosing the RIGHT SOLAR SYSTEM FOR YOU
Solar Only - Your Grid Dependent, basic system
Solar Only
There is no one size fits all solar solution, however, if you are a homeowner interviewing solar installers, you may be thinking that that is all there is to offer.
Grid tied solar systems changed the way homeowners looked at solar energy, and Net-Metering with your energy provider made it possible in 2016. Energy providers allowed for excess energy to be put into the grid and taken back out as needed with little to no charge for doing so. Times have changed and while you can still put some excess energy into the grid, it varies greatly on how may take it back out.
When one link fails, they all fail
One of the most overlooked and under asked questions in the solar world is what happens when the grid fails, goes down, or is in the middle of a rolling brown out? The short answer is that you will be without power until the grid comes back. Solar only systems require power from the grid to produce solar power. Without that grid power, solar systems, along with your lights, go out.
Solar Only systems do not allow for you to produce or use the power generated by your solar only system when the grid is down.
It's True, solar only, grid tied, power systems are dependent on the power grid to work
This is probably the most under-stated truth in residential solar power. Solar sales reps don't like to bring it up, and homeowners may not think to ask, but if your neighbors lights are out due to grid failure, so will be yours. You cannot draw emergency power from the grid when it is out. So, what is the point of solar? The point of going solar is that your solar power system works!
It works for you whether or not the sun is shining, and whether or not the grid is up and running.
Sunlight Backup - Your Own Micro-grid is the Answer
Form Your Own Micro-grid when the Power goes down
Sunlight Backup systems form their own micro-grid when the power goes down. This micro-grid keeps essential appliances running during a grid outage without the need to install a battery. This makes Sunlight Backup systems ideal for homeowners who want basic daytime protection from grid outages while reducing their initial investment. In addition, Sunlight Backup systems make it even easier than Solar Only systems to add battery and/or generator backup.
Introducing Enphase IQ System Controller
The Enphase IQ System Controller 2 is where everything energy comes together. It’s where we connect your home to the AC Power Grid, IQ 8 Encharge batteries, or your home’s backup generator. It will automatically detect grid failure, seamlessly form your micro-grid using and keep power on in your home.
If you are considering expandability in the future, this system controller is your answer. It is fully expandable. Start with sunlight backup now, integrate with your present generator, and add an IQ8 battery system in the future. The single enclosure streamlines your grid independent capabilities and is the perfect, pre-wired solution for residential solar installations.
Essential Loads Home Backup
Integrating Your Natural Gas Powered Generator
As we covered with the Solar Only design, one of the biggest misconceptions about solar panels is that they’ll keep your house running when utility power goes out. We learned, contrary to popular belief, solar panels are prevented from sending electricity to your home, or into the grid when the grid is out.
The second biggest misconception in solar is that even with a standby generator your solar panels aren’t going to turn on when the grid is down. The reasoning behind this misconception is that solar panels cannot operate parallel to one another. In all fairness, this was true, prior to this 8thgeneration of solar.
Now, for example, let’s say the grid goes down early one morning. Your system controller will detect the outage and open your micro-grid. If the sun is out your solar array may be enough to power your home, or at least your essential loads. With the IQ8 Controller we can use the phone app to tell the controller what to do… turn the generator on to power your home, turn your generator on to charge your batteries, or turn the generator on to supply a few essential loads.
The main thing is, YES, generators can be seamlessly integrated into your solar system to be used as you would like them to be used.
Start out with a small 3.3kW Battery
The Encharge 3 is the perfect battery to power your essential home loads while the sun is down, the grid is out, or both.
With this battery integrated into your solar system, you wont even know the grid is down. No fixing the clocks around your home, and no worrying about the power going out while your asleep.
Most homeowners realize that this battery can power their homes during the night, and in the morning when the sun comes up they are recharged, to be used again when the sun goes down lessening their dependance on the power grid.
This battery is sized and priced right!
Full Energy Independence
Drop the Power Grid
For years, solar power systems only worked when the sun was shining, saving you money during the day, but when night fell (as it does) or the grid failed (as it does), your energy production and your savings stopped. You used all the energy you produced with no way to save it for a rainy day.
Now, with the Enphase IQ Battery, you can bank the power you make and use it anytime, day or night, rain or shine. And in certain regions and states, you can sell the energy you don't need back to the grid—making your battery a bank in every sense of the word.
Enphase IQ Batteries use lithium iron phosphate chemistry, which means they are safer, last longer, and cost less than NMC alternatives. They come in two sizes—3.3 kW and 10 kW. Because Enphase batteries are modular by design, you can easily add more capacity and grow your system over time.
solar backup - With or without the Grid
Introducing Power Start Technology.
In the event of a grid outage, Power Start technology will intelligently start power hungry appliances, and keep your power flowing without interruption.
The right size solar battery backup for you
Sizing Your Home Energy Backup.
When it comes to backing up your home's energy needs, there is no one size fits all solution. With Enphase, there is no end to possibilities designed specifically for you.
What can You expect from your solar Installation?
Maximize your energy output and make the most of your investment with a well designed Solar system.
Practical Home solar backup
Solar with the flexibility to start small, go big, or grow over time.
Seamlessly Control your solar power
Control and manage your energy system from a single mobile app.
Compare Solar financing Options
We Offer the best solar loans available
Click below to check for current rates, terms, and special financing programs.
The truth behind low interest solar loans
Once the facts are out, ask yourself, is this type of financing really good for me.
In our opinion, this type of financing drove the residential solar market. California and some other states started mandating solar systems with a roof replacement, room addition or remodel, and with new construction. Homeowners were feeling the pain of rising energy cost and taxes and fees so when the door to door solar sales teams promiserd prospects that they could secure a monthly payment less than your present energy bill and that that payment would never go up. They called it a "NO BRAINER" and embarrased homeowners into not asking questions about the loan.
Above, we see two proposals. Component wise they are exactly the same - 31, 405w modules with 8th generation micro-inverters, an RSD, an AC combiner, COMMS Kit with mobile app, a Controller, two load controllers, and a sub-panel.
On the right-hand side we see that the Total System Price = $47,616.00
The left-hand side shows the same system with typical solar financing. The Total System Price with the solar loan = $73,823.76.
There is a difference or $26,207.76. WHY?
Some solar reps refer to the difference as a "NO BRAINER" but the legal profession often refers to the difference as Loan Sharking or Exceeding Usury Rates. Lenders refer to it as the 30% Dealer Fee or Loan Original Fee. Either way to cost of accepting such a loan is added to the System Cost, in this case it is $26,207.76 in additional taxes or fees. The No Brainer part of this loan is to get as far away from it as you can.
How Much Does It Cost To Buy Down An Interest Rate?
For example, a lender may offer a borrower the ability to reduce their interest rate by .25% in exchange for a point. So, if the borrower is obtaining a solar loan for $47,616.00 and is offered an interest rate of 3.99%, paying $26,207.76 ($873 per point) would mean the original interest rate was over 11.49%.
Your Solar Energy Savings Audit...
All you need to know about Montana Solar Energy ---Overall Costs, Savings, Net Metering, Rebates, Incentives, State and Federal Tax Breaks, and Solar Installations.
Saving with Solar Power, Solar Incentives, and Solar News
Solarize Billings campaign attempts to take solar mainstream
YAN BERRY, Billings Gazette
On the grid solar
In the last three years, residential solar panel users grew to nearly 1% of all energy customers in Montana. Most solar users in Montana stay on the power grid with a ‘net metering’ system.
Instead of an off-grid system, which stores extra energy in batteries, when solar panels create energy it is immediately used to power the home. But if no energy is being used, or a residence is using less than the panels generate, the excess power is sent to the power grid.
The exported energy shows up as an energy credit, which essentially gives the owner free power when the solar panels are not creating energy. Brad Van Wert, owner of Harvest Solar in Bozeman, told The Gazette the ideal solar array would allow homeowners to never pay for energy again.
“The term is net zero,” Van Wert said. “Depending on how much power someone uses, and the size of their roof, they could just be paying a membership bill for power.”
Net Metering: What Is It And Why Is It Becoming Controversial?
Update 2/2022
What Is Net Metering?
Net metering allows customers who generate some or all of their own power to offset their purchased power regardless of the time of day that they generate or use electricity. Because it doesn’t matter when the power is generated or used, the impact of generated kilowatt hours (kWh) is particularly helpful for solar power generated during the day and wind power generated at night.
Net metering has been one of the major drivers in growing small, distributed generation, especially for homeowners. Take, for example, a homeowner with solar panels mounted on the roof of their home. These panels send power into the grid all day while the owner is away at work. When the homeowner returns and turns on the lights, cooks dinner, or watches TV in the evening, the energy used is offset by the energy generated during the day. As a result, when the homeowner’s energy bill arrives at the end of the month, billable kWh can be close to zero. Sounds like a good deal, right?
Anti-Solar Bill Will Effectively Destroy Industry, Cost Montana Jobs
Update 2/19:
Huge Win for Residential Solar Power Installations!
On Friday, Feb. 19th in the House Energy Committee, Rep. Brewster withdrew HB359 before it even had its hearing. Thank you to all of the Montanans who signed up to oppose the bill, submitted comments, and made phone calls. There were more than a thousand comments submitted in opposition to the bill! This loud and vocal opposition helped earn this huge victory for rooftop solar power installations. Onward! House Bill 359 being introduced by Rep. Brewster (R, Billings) will effectively destroy Montana’s solar industry and cost the state hundreds of well-paying jobs provided by local businesses across the state. The issue at hand is net metering, which is a billing mechanism that allows Montanans who invested in rooftop solar energy and small wind systems to get credits…
Montana Renewable Energy Association
APR 2021
April 29, Update: HB448 was tabled in a Select Conference Committee meeting. MREA engineered a last-ditch effort to try and preserve the good parts of the bill, but that effort narrowly failed. The bill was then tabled, meaning it is dead. This is ultimately a great victory! The hijacked version would have been terrible for solar energy in Montana - for solar owners and consumers, as well as for our state's solar power professionals. We are both thrilled and relieved that we were able to stop the bad version from moving forward. Thank you to all those who helped and supported us during this bill's long and tumultuous journey this session!
Here's How Much Adding Solar Panels Will Boost Your Home's Value.
Update by Shaina Mishkin 4/23/19
Solar panels are good for the environment, but are they good for the value of your home? A new study suggests the answer is yes — although whether it's enough to actually cover the cost of the panels depends on where you live.
Americans are investing in solar power, installing enough systems to power 12.3 million homes in 2018, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. But whether or not those solar panels pay off depends on a lot of factors, from the cost of electricity in your area to the shape of your roof. One of those factors: their impact on your home's value.
On average, solar panels raise a home's value by 4.1% across the U.S., according to a new Zillow analysis of homes across the country— that's a boost of $9,274 on a $226,300 home, according to the study.\
So, what exactly is the federal solar tax credit?
Jim Hilger, the Roofing and Solar Blog
The residential solar energy credit is a tax credit that can be applied to you federal income taxes for a percentage of the overall cost of your solar photovoltaic (PV) system. There are other credits available for other types of renewable energy however for our purpose we will stick to those incentives that apply to solar or solar panels.
Your tax credit should be applied to the tax year that the system was installed and placed in service or it started to generate electricity for your home. Typically your date of installation is sufficient.
Recently congress passed an extension of the ITC that provides homeowners with a 26% tax credit for systems installed during the years 2020-2022. From there it is expected that the credit will be reduced to 22% with the credit expected to retire in the year 2024. There is no maximum amount that may be claimed.
Explaining the Federal Solar Tax Credit.
Solaria, March 2022
2022 is the last year the Federal Solar Tax Credit will be at 26% for residential properties. Starting in 2023, the credit will drop to 22%, and by 2024 the credit will be eliminated. We’ve said it before, and we will keep saying it— the time is NOW for solar energy.
Solar can be an expensive investment and maybe you’ve been putting it off in hopes that prices will drop. While the price of solar power installations has dropped considerably compared to ten years ago, the current rate of decline has hit somewhat of a plateau. That means the savings associated with the Federal Solar Tax Credit, also called the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), are significant and something you do not want to miss out on.
Calculate Your Solar Savings
See How Much You Can Save With Solaria Solar Panels
Use the Solaria Solar Savings Calculator to learn how much money you can save on your electric bill using Solaria high power solar panels for home energy. Reduce your energy bills and power your home and EV with beautiful, efficient and high energy solar panels by Solaria.
Have questions about where to start with solar? Schedule a call with one of our Solar Experts!