Durable solar mounting system blends into roofline, reduces installation costs
SOLAR POWER INTERNATIONAL, SAN DIEGO, Oct. 15, 2008 – SolarCity®, a national leader in solar power system design, financing, installation, monitoring and related services, today announced the availability of its Canopy™ Mounting System, which optimizes performance, improves reliability, reduces installation costs and enhances the aesthetics of rooftop solar panels.
“The best test of how a solar system looks is what your neighbors think about it, and we’ve received a lot of compliments,” said Rick Croteau, a Peoria, Ariz., resident and one of the first SolarCity customers with a Canopy system. “SolarCity placed the system in perfect symmetry between gables, and the Canopy system makes the panels look like they're actually built into the roof. Our array is the sleekest design I’ve seen.”
The Canopy Mounting System suspends solar panels along the roofline so they blend seamlessly with the home. Canopy’s low-profile, all-black attachments blend into the background, while its quick-latch mechanism allows the solar system to be trimmed straight on even the waviest of roof surfaces, enabling the panels to always look good in the optimal location on the roof.
“We designed Canopy to enhance our solar power systems’ aesthetics and maximize their electricity output,” said Ben Tarbell, director of products for SolarCity. “Canopy builds on SolarCity’s history of innovation – from easy-to-use Web monitoring to no-money-down financing – to provide customers with attractive, reliable solar power systems.”
Canopy’s patent-pending design optimizes airflow around the solar panels to keep them cool, even during the hottest hours of the day. The design minimizes the number of roof penetrations and reduces impediments to debris and roof drainage, ensuring better protection of the building. The Canopy Mounting System is designed and manufactured in the U.S. exclusively for SolarCity with up to 50 percent recycled content, and is itself fully recyclable.
The Canopy Mounting System is currently available to SolarCity customers in California, Arizona and Oregon. Specifications and pictures of the Canopy Mounting System are available upon request or at
www.solarcity.com.
SolarCity also announced the release of SolarGuard 2.0 today, its graphical, Web-based energy monitoring system with a range of new features, including the ability to measure electricity usage to give SolarCity customers a real-time view of their home or business’ net energy consumption and carbon footprint. More information about SolarGuard 2.0 can be found here:
http://www.solarcity.com/solar/pressreleases/displaypressrelease.aspx?id=16.
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Photo Caption: SolarCity installation in Arizona with Canopy(tm) Mounting System