Guidance for planning and installing your own solar energy system

Before investing in solar, first consider making some basic home improvements that will save energy:

• Get an energy audit
• Seal air leaks and add insulation
• Repair or replace old heating and cooling systems
• Replace old lighting with high-efficiency LEDs
• Use a programmable thermostat

The Home Energy Guide can serve as a resource to help you reduce your energy use up-front.

By making your home energy efficient first, you can reduce your energy consumption. A decrease in your energy demand will reduce the size of investment needed for your solar energy system, and maximize the returns on your system. 

After your home is energy efficient, you are ready to explore solar. But before you buy, take these steps:

• Get educated: Solar can generate electricity, heat water, or help heat your home. Making electricity is the most common use of solar energy in Minnesota today. Learn about solar through sources such as the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Take a class on solar basics. See the U.S. DOE's Homeowner's Guide to Going Solar website. Check for community education opportunities in your area. Talk to neighbors and friends who have installed solar. Contact your electric utility.
• Plan your system: Find out if your location is suitable for solar. The Minnesota Solar Suitability App can help identify the solar potential of your home or business. But you will need a site assessment to determine if your location can capture enough of the sun’s rays. A third-party source, such as the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society, can provide an independent site assessment.
• Learn how to pay for it: The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIREUSA) provides the most complete list of financial incentives for solar systems. It includes information on the 30 percent federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit (good through December 2019); incentive programs (such as Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards Program), rebates, and loans from utilities and state agencies; and state sales and property tax exemptions. Your solar contractor can help identify incentives and financing options.
• Get bids. To locate installers near you, check lists from the Clean Energy Project Builders, Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association (MnSEIA), or the Solar Business Directory.  Get two or three bids and make sure you compare apples to apples. Be sure each bid specifies system type and size, expected energy production, maintenance requirements, warranties, and installed cost. Exercise due diligence when hiring an installer; check out “Going solar? Tips for hiring a qualified installer .”
• Finalize a contract with your professional solar installation company and have your system installed.
• Maintain your system and keep track of its energy production.

Alternatives to owning solar

If purchasing your own solar energy system isn’t an option, consider the following opportunities as a way to support solar and clean energy.

• Subscribe to a community solar garden: An emerging option for the customers of several Minnesota electric utilities customers is joining a community solar garden, These solar photovoltaic systems provide electricity to participating subscribers. They are a way for people in Minnesota to get at least a portion of their power from solar electric systems without installing their own stand-alone project. The Clean Energy Resource Teams offers information on Community Solar Gardens.

• Participate in a green pricing program. Green pricing is a voluntary option offered by some Minnesota electric utilities that allows you to support renewable energy beyond what your utility would otherwise be required to do. You usually pay a little more for your energy to cover the incremental cost of the additional wind or solar energy. Check with your utility to see if it offers green pricing.

Additional solar resources

Minnesota Solar Fact Sheet (.pdf )
Provides stats about solar energy systems in Minnesota and solar’s economic impact.

Going solar? Tips for hiring a qualified installer (.pdf )
Provides due-diligence guidance to consumers seeking a solar installer.

Solar Electricity for the Home, Farm, and Business (.pdf)
A series of fact sheets designed to help determine if a solar electric system will work for you.

Solar Business Directory 
The directory is a list of businesses that have self-reported their involvement with solar in Minnesota and that the Department of Commerce updates periodically.

Minnesota Solar Guide 
This is a 20 page, printed directory.

Clean Energy Project Builder
The Clean Energy Project Builder is provided by Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) to identify 

Homeowner's guide to going solar 
Guidance from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Solar Ready Building Guidelines
Guidelines that address specific site planning, building form, space planning, roofing, and mechanical and electrical issues during the design phase of solar ready buildings.

Solar-Ready Building Design: A Summary of Technical Considerations
An overview of key technical considerations and a checklist of solar PV guidelines.

Standardized Load Tables Characterizing Residential Solar Thermal and Solar Electric Installations For Residential Structures in Minnesota (.pdf)
This report includes standard load tables providing guidance for planned solar electric and solar thermal systems and the load capacity of existing single and multi-family dwelling roof structures. The tables allow existing structures that fall within the published guidelines to be accepted as meeting the required standards of safety without further structural analysis.

Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry 
Offers a License Lookup tool to check an electrician’s license and a variety of solar PV resources.