Electrify Falls Church: Green Energy Takeaways & Resources
More than 50 people attended an Electrify Falls Church Open House to discuss ways to expedite the transition away from fossil fuels.
Hosted at a home with rooftop solar on July 15 by Falls Church Climate Action Network and Falls Church Forward, the open house was designed to be a show-and-tell of neighbors sharing what they've learned — and what questions they have — about using rooftop solar, electric vehicles, electric lawn equipment, and more.
Many attendees wanted to learn more about rooftop solar and battery backups (and the accompanying tax rebates) plus what it's like to own an electric vehicle.
Below, check out Electrify Falls Church event takeaways and resources to learn more about ways to go green.
Jump to a section:
Tax Rebates for Solar, Electric Vehicles, Insulation, and More
Info about electric vehicles will be posted soon.
Thank you to everyone who attended, including all four candidates for November's City Council race. Plus we were on the news! A big thank you to WUSA's Katie Kyros and Deanna Washington for their excellent coverage.
• Neighbors in Falls Church encourage the transition to clean, renewable energy (WUSA9.com)
Rooftop Solar Advice
Rooftop solar: 2023 Solarize NOVA campaign runs through Aug. 31
If you are interested in rooftop solar, the 2023 Solarize NOVA campaign runs through Aug. 31.
Solarize NOVA "evaluates proposals from local installers and selects a high-quality installer that has committed to providing discounted prices to all program participants. With low upfront costs, a streamlined process, and energy savings, Solarize Virginia is a win-win for you and the environment." Homes and nonprofits are eligible. A second similar program is also underway: check out Solar Switch | Virginia.
Not every home is a good candidate for solar based on its roof shape and relation to the sun. Check out the Northern Virginia Solar Map to learn whether your home or business might be a good candidate for solar.
Getting started with researching rooftop solar can be confusing. If you need help learning solar jargon, here's a great solar terms glossary.
If your home or business isn't a good candidate, consider donating to a nonprofit so they can install solar. Or tell the City of Falls Church you’d be interested in buying Renewable Energy Certificates to cover your usage if the City decides to contract with a new solar farm.
More than 50 people attended the Electrify Falls Church Open House. Many were interested to learn more about rooftop solar and available tax credits. Photo by FCCAN
Electrify open house hosts' rooftop solar experience
The hosts of the Electrify Falls Church event got their solar system through the Solarize NOVA program in 2018. Since then, the 7.2 kilowatts peak (kWp) system with 24 panels and a SolarEdge inverter has created 29.4 megawatt hours (MWh) of electrical power, which the SolarEdge app says has saved about 45,400 pounds of CO2 emissions, or the equivalent of planting 344 trees. Most months, their Dominion electric bill is just the $7 fee to be connected to the grid.
Ipsun Solar installed the system in 2018 and has been very responsive with some issues that were covered under warranty. Two panels stopped producing energy in 2020, and Ipsun replaced the optimizers on those two within a few days. In 2021, the inverter stopped working. SolarEdge sent a new inverter, which was installed by Ipsun.
How to get ready for solar proposals
Know your roof's age | It's best to install solar on a roof with plenty of life left.
Collect a year or two of electricity bills | Knowing your home's historical electricity usage will help you and companies get the best sense of how big of a system you'll need.
Consider your future electrical needs | Do you expect to have anyone else living with you in the coming years? Are you planning to get an electric vehicle? Are you planning to switch any gas appliances to electrical versions?
Find electrical efficiency projects | You can shrink the size of the solar system you need by making your home more efficient. Turn off electrical devices when they're not in use. Add insulation. Switch to LED bulbs. Replace inefficient appliances.
Know about potential related projects | If your home is 30+ years old, you might need an updated breaker box to prepare for solar. The solar installer might be able to handle this project, or you might need to hire an electrician to tackle that project first (perhaps along with adding a plug for an EV charger). If you're getting your breaker box updated, consider installing a whole home energy monitoring system as well.
How to compare solar quotes
To compare solar companies' quotes, take a look at the proposed capacity in kilowatts and divide the total cost by that.
For example, the 7.2 kWp system shown during the open house cost about $14,500 in 2018 after tax rebates. That equates to about $2,000 per kilowatt of capacity.
Also, take companies' energy production estimates with a grain of salt. Those are not an exact science. Many variables (clouds, rain, wildfire smoke, temperature, snow, shade from trees, sun's changing position throughout the year, etc.) affect how much energy your system will produce. Make sure any shading assessments account for future tree growth.
What are Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs)? How much can I earn?
According to Solar United Neighbors, "In Virginia, utilities have to meet certain sustainability requirements. They do this by purchasing credits from people like you who are producing solar energy. Solar owners sell their Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), which can help them pay off system costs more quickly."
The open house hosts' worked with their system installers to sell SRECs first to Pennsylvania's market, and now Virginia's market. For the 7.2 kWp system, the income is about $30 a month. SREC prices may vary from year to year.
Net metering, a.k.a. Swapping electricity and credits with Dominion
Net metering allows people with rooftop solar to get credits on their electric bill for the excess energy they produce from their system that is sent to the grid. See more details from Solar United Neighbors.
How battery backups and rooftop solar work together
At the open house, many attendees inquired about the home's Tesla Powerwall system, which was installed in February 2023 by Mountain View Solar after a 6+ month supply chain backlog (one company quoted an 18-month wait).
A battery backup can supplement your rooftop solar system by allowing it to continue powering the home and charging the battery. Unlike a gas generator, a battery backup is not an infinite amount of energy. It is designed to power core home devices such as a fridge, internet, microwave, sump pump, and electrical components of a gas furnace.
Without a battery backup, rooftop solar systems are designed to not send power to the grid so as not to put lineworkers at risk. Adding a battery backup gives that solar power a safe destination.
During times of mild weather, the battery backup can allow everything on the subpanel to be 100 percent solar-powered around the clock.
When the power went out, the homeowner was able to switch off breakers to unneeded appliances to maintain as much charge in the Powerwall as possible until the sun rose again the next day.
Induction Range Advice
Electrify Falls Church attendees watch a demo of water boiling on an induction range in about two minutes. Photo courtesy of Letty Hardi
Induction cooking can seem like magic, but it’s really just harnessing the science of magnets. This article and video cover many of the basics of induction cooking, including the science behind it.
Open house attendees were intrigued to see that an induction range could boil water in a little over two minutes. The homeowners installed a GE Profile 30 in. 5.3 cu. ft. Smart Slide-In Induction Range in Fingerprint Resistant Stainless with True Convection and Air Fry ($2,900 when purchased, now about $3,000) in early 2023.
The homeowners were fortunate to have an existing 200-amp plug from the previous "dual fuel" gas range. The gas line to the old range was capped off at the furnace and the gas line was removed.
Since induction ranges harness the power of magnets to cook, you need to have pots and pans that a magnet can stick to (sorry, no fancy copper pots). The homeowners were able to keep most of their pots and pans, but did have to replace a few (and gave the non-magnetic ones to relatives who have a regular electric stove). You also want to have pots and pans that closely match the size of the “burner” circles on your induction range.
The homeowners are pleased that removing the gas range has eliminated one source of air pollution in their home. Also, because most of the energy goes into the pots and the food being cooked, there’s a much lower risk of someone being burned, or something being melted or ignited comthan with a gas or electric stovetop that can retain heat for quite a while.
Switching from a 36-inch gas range to a 30-inch induction range, some cabinetry work was needed to close the six-inch gap. Purcellville-based master cabinet maker Fedi Geczy, of Design Craft Inc. (703-505-1636), moved the bottom cabinet over and built a new color-matched panel to cover the ductwork for the exhaust vent.
Tax Rebates for Solar, Electric Vehicles, Insulation, and More
An electric vehicle charges at Falls Church City Hall in July 2023. Photo by FCCAN
The Electrify Falls Church Open House included info and discussions about tax credits. We’ll post more later, but if tax credits are key to your investment decision, take note:
The credit for solar panels (and batteries) is 30 percent of the cost of parts and labor for original installation. If you don’t have enough tax liability to use all of it in the first year, the rest carries over into the next tax year.
That’s not the case for EVs or home energy-efficiency upgrades: use-it-or-lose-it for the year in which you take possession. Check Line 22 of your recent 1040 tax returns to see how much tax you typically have available to absorb these credits.
There are income limits for EV tax credits, and each vehicle model may qualify for a different credit amount. Check with the dealer.
Unless and until Congress closes a loophole, your dealer may be able to take a bigger credit by leasing you a vehicle (and pass some savings on to you) than you can claim for buying that model. Check with the dealer.
There’s now a 30 percent credit for used EVs bought from a dealer. In 2023, it applies for model years 2021 and earlier, costing $25,000 or less, and the credit is capped at $4,000. Income limits apply.
Electric Lawn Equipment
The Electrify Falls Church event featured battery- and extension cord-powered lawn equipment (mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws). Switching to these is more about local quality of life than climate change, but every little bit helps. The benefits include:
Quieter neighborhoods | You can talk over an electric mower without shouting, and there’s less need for hearing protection.
No fumes or hazards from gasoline cans in a shed or garage
No winterizing or oil changes
Gas-powered leaf blowers emit roughly three to 20 times more smog- and asthma-inducing pollutants per minute than driving a gasoline-powered car or truck. And the two-stroke engines used by many commercial yard crews are worse. (Emissions Test: Car vs. Truck vs. Leaf Blower | Edmunds). For lawn equipment that creates 10 times the pollution of a vehicle, just 30 minutes of operation emits as much pollution as five hours of driving.
Check back soon for more information about electric vehicles.