The Charlton Family | New Orleans, LA

The Charlton family shows how you don’t need a big system to make a big impact. This family’s 16-panel system completely offsets the monthly energy use of their Treme home. Thanks to premium solar panels, an energy-efficient home, the federal solar tax credit, and net metering, the family will enjoy an estimated $20,000 in lifetime energy savings. In the process the Charlton’s solar panels will increase their energy independence and help the community by eliminating nearly 125 tons of emissions.

The System

The Charlton family installed a 5.12 kW system comprised of 16 Mission Solar 320W modules with Enphase IQ7 Microinverters. Though on the smaller end of residential systems, these solar panels provide plenty of energy to offset the home’s use. Excess energy generated during the daytime is fed back on to the grid via net metering which allows the customer to offset the times they use energy while the solar panels aren’t producing, such as at night and during inclement weather.  For homes needing higher amounts of energy, backup batteries provide a method of storage to keep a home independently powered, day and night.

Why is energy independence important?

The solar panels the Charlton family installed provide not only savings, but increased independence and the number of individual and local benefits that come with it. The panels reduce reliance on the local utility, providing the Charlton’s reliable clean energy without the unpredictable fluctuations of utility rates and fees. They also ease the pressure placed on local infrastructure. This in turn lowers energy rates throughout the community, boosts resiliency to outages, and cuts down harmful emissions produced by conventional energy generation.

Bottom Line

Whether for environmental, financial, or personal reasons, generating 100% of your own energy is achievable through solar. For the Charlton’s, the environmental impact of generating clean energy took priority in their decision.

“We have always felt indebted and thankful for our Earth. In the third grade, my interest in preserving it went to another level as our class learned about the rainforest. We turned our classroom into a rainforest and adopted a spider monkey from the San Francisco Zoo. I’ve been worried about deforestation and climate change since then, and having a solar powered home has been a long-time dream of mine. I especially love the Enlighten app because we can see exactly how much carbon we’re off-setting and how many trees we’re potentially saving each and every month.”

Whatever your reason may be, solar can help you achieve your energy goals. Contact us for your free consultation.