Probably True Solar Stories

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Note: For this episode, we're temporarily changing the name of Probably True Solar Stories to Probably POOH Solar Stories in honor of our main character, Winnie-the-Pooh.

Once upon a time, not long ago, after public domain laws freed Winnie-the-Pooh from A.A. Milne's copyright ... there lived a bear who wanted to go solar but didn't understand the process or the technology.

After some discussion with Solar Fred, the narrator, and Pooh's friends Piglet, Owl, and Rabbit, Winnie-the-Pooh decides that he will go solar ... as long as more "hunny" is somehow found by the end of the story. 
 
True Solar Takeaways

• The main parts of a solar installation are the solar panels, the inverter, and the mounting or racking system.
• There are two types of inverters. Micro-inverters are installed behind solar panels. String inverters are installed on walls. Both work very well. 
• You can also install batteries for backup power, or as Pooh likes to call them, the "batter-bees."
• Most solar installations do not need batteries.
• Solar panel installations need to be designed and receive a "permit" by the city and/or county and other local officials. Solar pros call these "the AHJ's," (Authorities Having Jurisdiction.)
• Your utility (or as Pooh says, your utili-bee) must also inspect your finished solar installation before turning it on. This permission is called PTO (Permission to Operate).

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This Probably True Solar Story is the first haunted solar house story ever told... So... we're making pop-culture history! I think... If you find another one, let me know. 

As for the story, it's about a family that's moved into an updated solar home that seems to be haunted by a ghost with an unfulfilled environmental mission. But will that mission help the family ... or hurt them?

This episode is fairly tame in the scary story department. There are a couple of bad words. So... listen to it first before sharing it with any little ones.

True solar takeaways:

• Clean your solar panels regularly or a ghost might remind you
• You can make your solar home net zero--producing more solar energy than your home uses every year
• Lower your hot water heater's temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, 49 degrees Celcius. 
• Vampire loads, (TVs, stereos, cable boxes, and other appliances on standby mode) suck energy and waste money. Get smart plugs and power strips.
• LED lightbulbs save money now. Don't wait until your old ones burn out.  
• Solar homes have a higher resale value.  

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Solar homes come with minimal maintenance, especially when the solar has just been installed. But when a new solar owner sees that a pigeon is unrelentingly shit-bombing her brand-new solar array, she calls in a pro to do the dirty work. But then she discovers that her pigeon also has a problem, and there are very few things that can be done to fix the situation.

Indeed, it's a probably true solar panel pigeon poo-poo problem that's probably more problematic than precisely pronouncing this preposterous sentence 10 times fast.

But instead of doing that, just listen all the way through. Then ask yourself, "What would I have done in the same situation?"

Two small warnings about this episode: 1) Characters say some naughty words, so keep your earbuds on in front of the little ones. 2) I sing part of a Rolling Stones tune, so I beg your forgiveness in advance. It's brief, but it still might be painful for both Stones fans and non-Stones fans.

True solar takeaways:

• Cleaning solar panels can be dangerous, even if it's simple. Hire a pro to clean them once every few months. Bonus: They may find other problems that need attention.
• Critters may make a home under your solar panels. Once again, hire a solar O&M pro to prevent nests and warrens from being set up. 
• If you clean your own, use a mild soapy water solution with a soft cloth or brush. Never use anything sharp. You may cause damage to the solar panels--or even yourself.

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• Support the show by visiting the merch store and buying a tee shirt!
• Learn how sponsors can be a part of Probably True Solar Stories and tell their own creative stories. 
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How will solar sales be different in the year 2040? 

Today’s solar sales experience is fairly familiar: You call for a solar quote. Or maybe someone comes to your door to set an appointment. Then you give some basic info about your electric bill, and the salesperson uses software to quickly generate a quote. And then you think about it, maybe compare it to other quotes. It’s a little painful and fairly easy, but could it be even easier in the future?

And if it could be easier, at what cost to your personal life and privacy?  And speaking of privacy, this Probably True Solar Story does reference when two people fall in love, yada, yada, yada. So  you should probably listen to this one when young kids aren't listening and it's just you and your significant other...

True solar takeaways:

• Ideally, your solar panels should face South in the Northern Hemisphere. If designing a home, Sothern exposure can also provide energy-saving natural lighting and heating benefits.  
• You need to make sure that any trees are trimmed below the solar panels
• Your home's wiring and fuse box may need an upgrade.
• Solar can come with batteries for backup power, but it's an option, not a necessity. Today's grid is still 99% reliable, but if you want peace of mind for three days out of the year, go for it. 
• If you're getting new air conditioning, consider a heat pump, which both heats and cools the air.
• Get all solar quotes in $/DC watt so that you can compare apples-to-apples pricing. In other words, "$3.00/DC watt" could be one quote. $3.25/DC watt is another quote. If all have quality equipment and good online reviews, select the least expensive one.

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• Don't forget to:
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In real life, you never hear about the perfect heist. That’s because when a real-life heist is perfect, there are no witnesses, the criminals disappear, and the case goes cold. Boring.

Now, in a fictional heist story, something always goes wrong. It has to. It’s a story telling rule. So why should that change for a solar heist story?

When we last left Mazz Botticelli in Part 1, he’d made a deal with his neighbor, Charlie Boston, to liberate some illegally imported solar panels from a U.S. Customs warehouse. In part 2, Mazz makes the perfect plan. And of course, that perfect plan becomes an unlucky, no-good, bad-day heist. But it makes for a fun solar story.

True solar takeaways:

• Large-scale developers typically only buy solar panels that are on a "Tier 1" list that's sold by Bloomberg. Bloomberg researchers evaluate manufacturers based on their financial viability, mostly, to make sure that the manufacturer will back up any warranty claims over 25 years. 
• Most Tier 1 manufacturers are historically reliable.
• Being on the tier 1 list does not mean that the modules installed are going to last, but there's a good chance.  
• Even if the Tier 1 solar manufacturer is financially sound and honors the warranty, if you have a huge project, the replacement time and cost will be huge. That's why some developers hire a quality assurance company to inspect and test the panel shipment before installation. 
• Residential solar referrals are very common. Once one neighbor goes solar, others soon follow. 

P.S. About a month after the publication of this fictional story, Reuters news reported that US Customs has blocked or confiscated over 1,000 solar panel shipments. But there's no word on what happens to those confiscated panels. Truth may be stranger than this episode's fiction. You never know. :-)

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In this first episode of Probably True Solar Stories, two neighbors meet unexpectedly at an Oakland, California coffee shop that specializes in dark, rich coffee. Mazz owns a trucking business by day and is a thief at night. Charlie is a solar project builder by day and a guy with an international solar problem that can only be solved by Mazz. Will they come to a deal? Or will their neighborly relationship become... awkward?

All Probably True Solar Stories are fiction. If this episode sounds familiar to your experience in the solar industry, get help.

True solar takeaways:

• The solar installation industry is made up of residential, commercial, and utility-scale installers. They're very different.
• Many high-quality solar panels are imported from China. Some are made ethically, and others are made with forced labor. There's a law against importing solar panels made with forced labor.
• Some solar developers hire quality assurance companies to monitor the supply chains and factories.
• All solar installations, regardless of size, can now receive a  U.S. 30% tax credit. That's just the start. Big developers can also receive other tax incentives.
• Chinese solar panels still have import tariffs, as of 2022.
• "Procurement" means sourcing, purchasing, and delivering equipment.
• Generally, large solar asset owners hire an experienced solar developer to take care of building the product. The solar developer may in turn hire an "EPC," which stands for engineering, procurement, and construction.
• After the writing of this story, it was reported that the U.S. government has confiscated gigawatts (GWs) of solar panel shipments. That's a lot. BUT... It's also being reported that the confiscated panels are being shipped back to China, not shredded.. It's another reason why we call this podcast "Probably True Solar Stories."  The facts are a little different from reality, but the made-up bits make for a good story!

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• Don't forget to:
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Once upon a time, there was a solar installer. Think that sounds funny? Well, why not a solar installer?

Probably True Solar Stories is a podcast about the secret solar stories and the secret solar people that you never hear about. Why don’t you hear about them? Because they're not real. They’re fiction. Why fiction? Because it’s always more fun to make shit up. 

Also, because solar energy is increasingly part of daily life, but we never hear about solar's real heroes, villains, legends, pets, pests, and politicians who are changing U.S. culture and lives. They're too busy. So, we're going to tell the “probably true stories” that might have happened, could have happened, and shouldn't have happened, but did anyway.

Probably True Solar Stories are written and read by Tor “Solar Fred” Valenza. Tor is a former film and TV writer and current solar public relations geek, who shares true solar news stories every day on Twitter at @SolarFred. But those news stories are mostly boring. Subscribe to Probably True Solar Stories to get the strange and wonderful ones. What’s your solar story? 

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• Visit ProbablyTrueSolar.com to sign up for the newsletter to learn about new episodes and live solar storytelling events.
• Support the show by visiting the merch store and buying a tee shirt!
• Learn how sponsors can be a part of Probably True Solar Stories and tell their own creative stories. 
• Follow @SolarFred and/or @ProbTrueSolar on Twitter to discuss episodes
• Don't forget to:
  • Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast streaming service
  • Rate
  • Review, and 
  • Share!