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Why You Should Choose EZ Solar & Electric When Installing Residential Solar Panels in San Diego?

Thanks to its sunny climate and eco-conscious spirit, California is second only to Arizona when it comes to solar power use. Government, commercial, and even residential buildings are decked out with solar panels, and every day, more and more homeowners decide to invest in this renewable energy.

Because of solar power’s popularity, it’s easy to find a contractor to install solar panels in your home. Thus, the challenge goes from finding a contractor that can do the job, to finding a contractor that can better fulfill your needs and requirements as a client, and for that, you should look no further than EZ Solar & Electric.

Professionalism and Experience

With over two decades of experience in both roofing and solar panel installation, we at EZ Solar & Electric have the knowledge and experience needed to tackle every solar power presented to us with creativity and professionalism, a trait that has earned us the trust of hundreds of clients in the Greater San Diego area, where we operate.

We’re one of the few contractors in California licensed in C-10 electrical, C-39 roofing, and B-General, which gives us not only an edge over the competition but also the skill to tackle just about every project, which has allowed us to install solar panels for clients who had bad experiences with other companies or couldn’t even get solar panels in their homes.

We can proudly guarantee a successful installation, no matter how big or small your project may be.

Commercial & Residential

Our skills in installing solar panels go beyond the residential, as we’re happy to work on commercial projects as well, providing energy to your business or investment property at a competitive price. Not only that, but because we can handle every step of the installation, including the roofing, you can eliminate the kind of conflicts that can arise from hiring multiple contractors, saving you money in more ways than one.

We’re Proudly Local

Not just another electrical, solar, or roofing company. We’re the best solar company in San Diego, hiring local talent to form a dedicated and talented team of in-house experts that can handle every step from designing your solar power array to installing it where it needs to be.

Your Trust is Our Priority

At EZ Solar & Electric, we believe our client’s trust is more than our presentation card. It’s the driving force behind our business, and as such, we’re happy to work with our clients to ensure they know everything they need to know about solar panels before we even start installing them.

EZ Solar & Electric will provide you with a free, no-pressure consultation, where we’ll provide you with relevant information on the process of the system and what you can expect, both from the installation and the general use and operation of the solar panel, after which you’ll decide whether solar power is the option for you.

If it is, we’ll be with you every step of the way, answering your questions and doubts as they arise, as we know just how important your home is.

We want to give our clients the assurance they need to know not only that we mean business, but that we will also look out for their property’s integrity as if it were our own!

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How Often Should You Change Your Roof?

When it comes to keeping your home in top shape, it’s easy to underestimate just how important your roof is. Believe it or not, if left unattended, a small fault in your roof can eventually bring the whole house down, so it pays to keep your roof in top shape.

Previously, we’ve talked about which signs will tell you that it’s time to change your roof, but it’s important to know how long, on average, each kind of roof lasts, so you can prepare accordingly.

Average Lifespan of Common Roof Materials

Composition Shingles

By far the most popular kind of rooftop in America, composition shingles offer a lot of versatility in terms of color and style.

This is also one of the most affordable roof materials to both install and replace, and has an average lifespan of 12 to 20 years.

The traditional roof-mounted solar panels are almost always included on your home’s insurance. After all, once they’re installed, they’ll form part of your house, and that will be the case until you decide to move out or take them down.

Since most home insurance policies already cover solar panel installations, what you should really focus on is just how much your insurance policy covers.

When Are Residential Solar Panels Not Covered By Insurance?

Insurance offers no coverage for solar panels that are placed on the floor and, curiously enough, your walls, even though those are as much part of your home as the roof is.

Likewise, depending on how your home is built, your insurance may or may not cover solar panels placed on a detached garage or pergola.

You’ll want to make sure to call your insurance and ask about their solar panel policies to know exactly how much they’ll cover.

Should I Consult With My Insurance Provider Before Installing Residential Solar Panels?

Composition Shingles

By far the most popular kind of rooftop in America, composition shingles offer a lot of versatility in terms of color and style.

This is also one of the most affordable roof materials to both install and replace, and has an average lifespan of 12 to 20 years.

Asphalt Shingles

Affordable, versatile, and easy to replace, Asphalt Shingles are the more durable cousin of Composition shingles, and their longer lifespan reflects that as roofs that use this material tend to last anything between 15 to 30 years.

Wood Shingles

A far less common option for roof materials, wood shingles give homes a beautiful and natural appearance that is hard to surpass. Wood shingles also offer exceptional resistance against wind and hail, and can last 20 to 25 years on average.

Rubber Roofs

Though not as beautiful and eye-catching as other kinds of roofs, rubber roofs have a fairly long lifespan of 20 to 25 years, and offer a wide variety of advantages over other materials.

This kind of roof is easy to clean and maintain and offers superior insulation to other materials, making them a material worth considering.

Metal Roofs

By far the sturdiest and most long-lasting of all roof materials, metal roofs are resistant to fire and require almost no material whatsoever.

They can be fairly pricey to install, but once they’re there, you can rest assured they’ll be there for a long time, as metal rooftops can last a whopping 75 years without needing to be replaced, though their average lifespan can last anything from 50 to 75.

Things to Keep in Mind

While different materials offer different advantages and disadvantages, there’s one thing they all have in common:

Their lifespan depends greatly on the weather conditions of the place you live in.

If your roofs are subjected to harsh weather regularly, there’s a good chance they’ll get damaged more often, which means they’ll need to be replaced sooner.

Not only that, not all rooftop materials are suitable for all houses, as things like environment or location can make them unsuitable in general.

Wood shingles, for example, are objectively beautiful, but they should never be used in areas prone to wildfires, as they can be pretty flammable and will do more harm than good.

Metal roofs, on the other hand, are highly resistant to fire, but aren’t as insulating as wood, and don’t fare well in humid climates.

Working With the Experts

Whether you’re planning to completely change your roof or you’re just looking to repair it, it’s important to work with dedicated professionals, and if you live in the San Diego area, your best bet is EZ Solar & Electric.

With over two decades of experience, EZ Solar can help you evaluate, repair, and replace your rooftop at an affordable price, without sacrificing their high-quality work and personal touch.

Not only that, but they can also help prepare your roof for solar panel installation, making them a one-stop solution for all of your roofing needs!

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Here’s How Solar Panels Affect Home Insurance

When researching the pros and cons of installing residential solar panels, San Diego homeowners tend to focus on things such as price, return on investment, whether their roof is suitable for solar panel installation, how much energy solar panels can produce, and so on.

While all of these questions are worth asking (and we’ve talked extensively about most of those subjects), there’s something most homeowners don’t ask about solar panel installation: Will it affect their home insurance?

The short answer is that, yes, installing solar panels will affect home insurance.

The long answer? Keep reading to find out!

Solar Panels & Insurance

Because they’re part of your home, solar panels will often have an impact on your home insurance. How this will affect how much you have to pay, though, depends entirely on what kind of solar panels you’re installing.

The traditional roof-mounted solar panels are almost always included on your home’s insurance. After all, once they’re installed, they’ll form part of your house, and that will be the case until you decide to move out or take them down.

Since most home insurance policies already cover solar panel installations, what you should really focus on is just how much your insurance policy covers.

When Are Residential Solar Panels Not Covered By Insurance?

Insurance offers no coverage for solar panels that are placed on the floor and, curiously enough, your walls, even though those are as much part of your home as the roof is.

Likewise, depending on how your home is built, your insurance may or may not cover solar panels placed on a detached garage or pergola.

You’ll want to make sure to call your insurance and ask about their solar panel policies to know exactly how much they’ll cover.

Should I Consult With My Insurance Provider Before Installing Residential Solar Panels?

Yes!

It’s always a good idea to consult your home insurance provider before doing any kind of major work around your house and solar panels definitely fit into this category.

By consulting your insurance provider about solar panels, you’ll not only know exactly what your insurance covers, but where you can install your solar panels, whether you’ll need to up your rates, whether they work with specific contractors, and a myriad of other little details.

Though time-consuming and more than a little bit annoying, talking to your insurance provider should be considered the cornerstone of your residential solar panel installation.

Solar panel contractors like EZ Solar & Electric can install high-quality residential solar panels on just about every rooftop, minimizing the risk of damage to your roof and maximizing the effectiveness of your panels.

However, knowing exactly what your insurance covers can help them know what to focus on to maximize your investment and minimize the risks.

Consult with your home insurance provider to know how installing residential solar panels will affect your home insurance, and after you do that, make sure to give us a call for a consultation!

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What Type of Roof is Better for Solar Panels Part 1

While it’s true that solar panel contractors can install solar panels on just about every kind of rooftop, not all rooftops are the same.

Some roof shapes and materials are just plain better than others, and in this two-part guide, we’ll cover the differences.

Let’s get started!

Shape

Gable Roof

Because of their pyramid-like shape, gable roofs are some of the best when it comes to solar panel installation, as they allow contractors to completely cover both sides of the roof. This leads to increased energy production, which in turn translates to more significant savings in a shorter amount of time.

Because of their ideal shape, every solar panel contractor out there will be able to work on this type of roof.

Hip Roofs

When it comes to solar panel efficiency, hip roofs are, by far, your best option, as their peculiar configuration allows contractors to install solar panels on every side of the roof.

This means that no matter the orientation of your house, there will always be a side of your roof that’s receiving direct sunlight, which translates to reliable solar power every day of the year.

The steep angles these rooftops are known for, however, present a problem when it comes to aligning solar panels, which in turn means you can’t install as many as you can with a gable roof.

This also means that not all solar panel contractors will be able to work on this kind of roof, but experts such as EZ Solar have solutions to make the installation not only possible but also affordable.

Flat Roofs

Popular in the south of the country, but not so much in the rest of the country, flat roofs are the dream of every solar panel contractor, as they allow multiple configurations for solar panel arrays.

Installing solar panels on flat roofs is easier, safer, and generally more affordable, but because flat roofs aren’t that popular in residential households, this kind of installation is usually reserved for commercial buildings.

Material

From traditional asphalt shingles to beautiful wooden ones, there’s a lot of variety when it comes to roof materials. However, not all materials are suitable for solar panel installation, and that’s something you want to keep in mind.

Wooden rooftops, for example, are unsuitable for solar panels, as the material is more flammable than asphalt and tile, and solar panels get very hot by design.

Asphalt rooftops, on the other hand, are ideal for solar panels, as their durability and flexibility lend themselves to long-lasting installations, and asphalt is naturally heat-resistant, which mixes well with the natural functions of solar panels.

Tile rooftops have a near complete lack of flexibility, which means that contractors need to remove the tiles before installing solar panels. This material, however, is fire-safe and improves air circulation, which can help with the longevity of your residential solar panels.

Though only common in some areas of the country, metal rooftops are fantastic for residential solar panel installation, as they facilitate the whole process and reflect the sun, maximizing the amount of sunlight that hits your solar panels.

As a general rule, solar panel contractors can install solar panels on just about every kind of rooftop.

However, if you’re still in doubt about whether or not your rooftop is suitable for solar panels, make sure to call EZ Solar & Electric for a consultation.

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