Category: Blog

Yes, rain and clouds can affect solar panel energy production because they reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the panels. When the sky is cloudy, the sunlight is diffused, which reduces the intensity of the light reaching the solar panels. Both weather conditions can cause a decrease in the amount of electricity the panels produce by as much as 25%-90%. However, this effect depends on the type and density of the clouds, but solar panels can produce electricity on partly cloudy days. Luckily, Nevada has more than 300 sunny days a year.

How many rainy and cloudy days in Southern Nevada?

Las Vegas receives about 4.2″ of rainfall per year. Most rainfall occurs in winter, with February being the wettest month, receiving an average of 4 days of rain.

Does rain affect your solar panels?

Our solar panel systems are designed to be weather-resistant and can continue to produce electricity even under cloudy or rainy conditions.

Does rain clean your solar panels?

Rain does help clean your solar panels, removing dust, debris, and bird droppings.

How does this affect your NV Energy Bill?

If you use more energy than your solar system produces, you may see a slight increase in your bill. If you have built Net Meter credits, the credits may be applied to your account to cover your consumption.

More information from Enphase

Solar heat needs to be dissipated

Solar panels and micro inverters produce a small amount of heat that needs to be dissipated. Solar panel arrays are mounted a few inches above the roof, and microinverters are mounted in the shade under the solar panel. Air circulates, convection between the roof and panels, removing heat and lowering the temperature of the roof and panels.

Link to Enphase microinverters reliability paper

Pigeon guards need to be installed

Pigeon guards need to be installed on all solar panel arrays because pigeons can nest under the panels, and their waste causes damage to your panels and your roof.  Robco uses a solid flashing guard instead of netting or mesh for stronger protection and a cleaner look.

Robco’s pigeon guard is designed to look solid and completely flush with solar PV panels from the ground. However, there are 1/4” air gaps along the guard’s edge where it meets the roof tiles and where it is attached to the panel skirting. The gap is enough for rainwater and heat to escape but not let in pigeons.

Robco has used this guard design for more than eight years, and several punishing Las Vegas summers have shown no issues.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with other questions; our Solar Consultants are always here to support you during and beyond installation.

Keeping pigeons from nesting under you solar panels with pigeon proofing

You know that old saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?” In the case of pigeon-proofing a solar array at installation, it will save some unlucky person from shoveling many pounds of stomach-turning mess!! If the birds decide to nest under your panels, the results can be absolutely disgusting! The photos above are from a recent pigeon clean-up we did on a non-Robco-installed solar array.

Robco Electric includes solid metal pigeon proofing with every new flush roof-mounted solar install to prevent pigeons from nesting under the panels. When you choose Robco Electric for solar, pigeon proofing is not an “add-on cost” or an “optional feature.” We don’t treat it as an “afterthought,” either. We install solid metal, powder coated pigeon proofing by default on every flush mount solar install to prevent the problem before it ever happens. This small cost in your solar panel purchase price can save you thousands of dollars. The truth is that our solar install crews dread getting assigned to do pigeon clean-up jobs, but much more important to us is the peace of mind this offers you as a Robco solar customer.

When you get solar from Robco Electric, we think about the long term and keeping your system performing at it’s best for years, not just the quick sale at the lowest price.

You will never have to worry about this common issue with solar arrays that are not pigeon proofed. Our solid metal solar pigeon proofing is the same roof flashing that is already present on your roof. It is meant to last for decades. It is both attractive and very functional. Because it is solid metal, there are no gaps in the mesh or holes for the bird’s beaks to grab onto to pull the flashing loose as they can do with the mesh type. It’s also covered by our 10 year workmanship warranty.

Some additional information here.

Downloading your power bill from NV Energy is easy! Just log in and follow these easy steps. 

This is how to get your NV Energy Bill.

Step 1: Log into your account at NV Energy. You’ll need your user ID and password.

• If you do not have an account, you’ll need to create one by choosing “Register a New Account.” To do this, you’ll need a paper bill or your NV Energy account number.
• If you do not remember your User ID or Password, you can reset it by clicking “Forgot Your username or password?”

Step 2: On the upper left-hand side of the screen, click the blue words that say VIEW STATEMENT.

Step 3: A pop-up window will open with the PDF of your bill. Save this file and email it to solar@robcoelectriclv.com. If you are unable to save the file, capture a screenshot and send us that. Your power bill will look like the image below.

If you get an error message that you have pop-ups disabled or you are on some phones that do not allow you to save or read PDFs, go to step 4

Step 4: If you have trouble viewing the statement or it says your statement is not available, move over to the right-hand side of the screen and click VIEW HISTORY at the bottom of the Billing and Payment History box.

Open the Payment and Billing History tab. Download the PDF by clicking the small box with the down facing arrow. View the PDF by clicking VIEW STATEMENT. You can save it from there as well.

If you are still having trouble, please call your Robco Solar Consultant. With your permission, we can log into your account and retrieve your bill. You’ll need to supply us with your Username and Password.

Don’t have an NV Energy bill yet?

Because you do not have a power bill available yet, please log into NV Energy and grab these two screen shots for us. NV Energy requires that the Solar Net Metering Application have the info below. We usually pull it off the bill, but for new service, we need to use an alternate method.

1 . Once you log in, from the drop-down menu choose Profile and Preferences: (exact spelling of your name and address as it appears on bill and account number)

2. From the Dashboard, click VIEW USAGE (meter number)

Please send these screen shots back to us as soon as you can.

If you do have a bill, please send that instead.

When we look at a rooftop for solar, the goal is to replace as much of the customer’s current power use with solar as we can. However, all installers must obey certain rules when designing solar PV systems.

One of the most important considerations in design is to comply with the laws for fire setback for solar panels. This is a requirement imposed by the 2018 International Fire Code Section 1204 and adopted by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) (i.e. City of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, or Clark County, etc.) Fire setbacks are distances that solar panels must not be placed within – mostly near ridgelines or peaks/valleys on the roof or other obstacles like skylights and chimneys – to allow firefighters to safely walk on the roof when responding to building fire. Why do firefighters need a clear path on a solar roof? During a blaze, they will sometimes punch a hole in the roof to allow hot gasses and smoke to escape so that other team members can enter the building to pull people or pets out. This venting can also prevent an explosion since hot gasses can escape instead of building up pressure. The clear paths created by fire setbacks protect our first responders while working to save your life and your property during a fire.

In NV, solar panels cannot be placed within 3 feet (36″) of the ridgeline and must have 36” clearance from the edges of the roof (except the bottom) and 18″ from any peak or valley in the roof that has solar panels on both roof surfaces.  (These are the rules for Clark County specifically, however all the jurisdictions here use the same setbacks.) On a flat roof, the panels must have 36″ around all edges and 18″ around any obstacle, such as a skylight or air conditioner. Furthermore, the City of Las Vegas will not allow ANY roof vents to be covered by solar. No installer can ignore those fire setbacks and pass inspection, however, we see many designs from other solar installers that are uninstallable.

WHY WOULD AN INSTALLER SHOW AN “IMPOSSIBLE TO INSTALL” DESIGN TO A CUSTOMER THAT IGNORES THESE SETBACKS?

It could simply be inexperience with fire setbacks or possibly incorrect scaling when the image was imported into the design software, however, it is most likely that the installer is trying to show the customer a “best case scenario” with all the panels clustered on the South facing slope since panels on the South outperform those on the East, West or North slopes by a considerable percentage.

For example, if all 22 panels a customer needs could be placed on the South slope, it would produce 13,207 kwh.

If the layout is split due to fire setbacks and clearance needed around vents, the actual annual production of the system as it can be installed with 17 panels on the south and 5 on the West is 11,494 kwh. That is 1,713 fewer kwh than promised or $205 LESS value of power per year (1,713 x .12/kwh=$205).

IGNORING FIRE SETBACKS ON DESIGNS MISLEADS CUSTOMERS INTO THINKING THEY WILL GET MORE PRODUCTION. IT ALSO LEADS TO ANGRY CUSTOMERS.

On the rooftop in this example, placing them all on the South while ignoring fire setbacks not only inflates the estimated production for the system, it also misleads the customer on what to expect on install day. By the time it is installed, and the installer has relocated panels to comply with fire setbacks to pass inspection, the customer is often not even told about the drop in production. If they are, it is too late for them to do anything about it. Then, when the after solar bills come and they are bigger than the customer was led to believe, they have no recourse but to make a complaint to the Nevada State Contractor’s Board.

The moral of this story: Know what fire setbacks are and make sure your solar contractor has accounted for them in their designs from the get-go.