FAQs For Homeowners

Solar energy provides:

• Lower electric bills from the utility, because you use less of their electricity
• Savings from replacing some utility electricity with your own solar electricity, which costs less per kilowatt-hour (kWh) than the utility’s electricity
• Protection against future utility rate hikes—the sun won’t charge you more tomorrow than it did today
• The satisfaction of knowing you are making and using clean, non-polluting power and helping solve the climate change crisis
• Bragging rights with your neighbors!

A solar energy system for your home consists mainly of solar panels on your roof that collect sunlight, and an inverter or inverters that convert that sunlight into electricity that can be used in your home. Read more on solar technology and how solar energy works on our LEARN page.

Installing solar alone does not mean you’ll have power during an outage. Your solar energy system shuts off automatically in an outage to prevent any electrical current from flowing back into the grid. This is to protect utility line workers attempting to restore power. However, if you install Solar+Storage, you can set up the system to provide backup power during an outage.

The cost varies greatly based on:

• The equipment
• The size of your solar energy system
• Your electricity needs.

You can purchase it outright or let Citadel help you secure financing. Many financing options do not require a down payment.

Yes! Unlike many major investments like cars or new kitchens, a solar energy system actually pays for itself in a matter of years. The money it saves you on your electricity ends up being much more than the cost of the system. How long this takes varies by project, depending on variables like your cost of electricity, the size and orientation of your solar energy system, and how much electricity you use.

Again, it differs for everyone. A Citadel solar pro will design the system that works for your needs and provide estimates on your savings.

If you have a standalone solar energy system, one of several things happens, but note that you get the value of all the solar energy you make:

1. Some solar electricity you produce is used in your home right then and there, if needed at the time. The utility never sees that.
2. Solar electricity you produce but don’t need at the time flows back into the utility grid for use by others (unless you also have a solar energy storage system) [link to HOMEOWNERS/Storage page].
3. When your solar isn’t producing enough for your needs, you draw electricity from the utility in the “traditional” way.
4. The utility keeps track of how much electricity you take from them, and how much you send to them.
5. Over a 12-month period, you only pay for the difference between the electricity you drew from the grid and the electricity you sent into the grid. In other words, you get credit for that extra solar you made but did not use. This is called net metering or net energy metering (NEM).

If you install  Solar+Storage [link to HOMEOWNERS/Storage], you can store your extra solar electricity in your batteries for use at a time of your choosing, instead of sending it into the grid.

On your end, only the following (plus of course writing a check or two):

1. Get proposals from solar installation companies
2. Choose an installer
3. Schedule the installation working with your contractor
4. Wait for utility permission to turn on the system
5. Enjoy your clean energy and lower electric bills.

There are more steps than that, but Citadel takes care of them for you. For more details on the process, download our free roadmap infographic.

It’s easiest to let a qualified contractor like Citadel assess your roof for you. In general, it needs to have at least 15 years of life left in it, and it needs to have at least 100 to 500 square feet of available roof space. The ideal roof is on the south side of the home, though east and west facing roofs work well too. Skylights can eat up some of the available space and obstructions like dormers can throw shade on the panels.

Citadel’s solar pro will determine that based on how much electricity you want to generate and how much roof space you have.

The installation of the panels and related equipment usually takes a day or two.

Most panel manufacturers warrant their product for 25 years. Since there are no moving parts, solar energy systems are designed to last even longer. There are many solar energy systems still operating today that were installed 30+ years ago.

It is important to periodically check to make sure your system is working as expected but generally, there is no required maintenance for a residential solar energy system.

If you own the solar energy system on your roof, research shows it could increase your home’s value and decrease the re-sale time. Read our blog post on How Solar Increases California Property Values for details.

No, solar energy systems in California are exempt from property taxes.

Most HOAs require approval for installing solar, but they cannot stop you from moving forward with your solar project thanks to the Solar Rights Act.