A New York solar pro walks through the process of designing and installing a rooftop solar system in a historic district The roof: A sunny, flat expanse topping a two-story limestone townhouse on Maple Street in the Lefferts Manor Historic District in Brooklyn. The home was built in 1909, but its current owner wanted to bring the building?s energy system into the 21st century.
The bid: The building?s owner teamed up with eight other homeowners in the neighborhood, brought together by pro-solar nonprofit Here Comes Solar. The group asked for bids to outfit all their homes with solar panel systems and were able to get a base price of $5.50 per watt from the winning bidder, Brooklyn SolarWorks.
The math: After winning the bid, Brooklyn SolarWorks looked at the energy bill for the home on Maple Street to determine how much power a panel system would need to produce to both meet the home?s requirements and make financial sense for the homeowner.
"We calculated how many kilowatt hours the solar system would produce and multiplied that number by the rate he?s paying the energy company. That gives us a savings number," explained T.R. Ludwig, co-founder of Brooklyn SolarWorks. The proposed solar panel system on Maple Street would produce 6,804 kilowatt hours a year with a monthly savings of roughly $153.
The plan: Based on that number and the roof?s features (skylights, chimney, pipes) Brooklyn SolarWorks designed an efficient layout using 18 LG315 panels angled t...