Get Started
Getting started with Solar energy
Interested in a solar system for your home or business? As easy as 1 – 2 – 3
Note from solar architect: the design of an off grid or hybrid/grid assist solar system is key. This is what makes the difference between a solar system perfectly working for you and a system where YOU have to adapt to what the solar system can give you!
All is based on your daily electrical consumption, also referred as “daily needs” (how much electricity do you need per 24 hrs).
This will show us your daily electrical consumption.
We will send you by email 2 documents to fill:
- a basic questionnaire to better understand the details of your solar project,
- and a « daily consumption sheet » where we have listed most of the appliances one can use in a home or business, with their typical consumption . You only have to fill « How many of this appliance do you have » if any, and « How long a day do you generally use it ».
Example: « You have 1 washing machine and you use it 1 hr every 3 days » or « You have 3 fans and you use them 4 hours a day ».
Upon receipt, we will have a clear idea of your needs.
Example: Your average daily consumption is 10 Kwh; We will send you the details and cost for our 7 and 12 kwh pre-designed solar kits.
We do not need to visit your property at this stage, and you will have an idea of the budget required for your solar system.
All this is free!
At this stage, there are 2 options:
3.1 The initial estimate you received does not match at all what you had in mind.
We understand and there is no problem, you do not owe us anything.
or
3.2 You are interested and wish to enter into details.
We are then going to work closely with you to fine tune your needs. In order to start this phase, we will ask you for a 10% deposit. This deposit will be deducted from your final invoice. You have now become our customer and we have all the necessary time available to work with you on your solar project and answer all your questions.
We are going to visit your property: measure your roof, check the location where you wish to have the solar system installed, the cables length required, we will evaluate with you the splitting of consumption between day time (sun) and night time (batteries).
We will work on the perfect design for your own needs until we reach to our Sizing Estimate Design #1. This is like a pro-forma invoice. We become committed to a price and a delay.
How is it working?
One we have finalized the solar design, we will be ready to assemble your solar system , make all settings, test it at our solar lab for a few days, and we will then come to install the solar system at your property. We generally have all in stock on island. We will ask you for a 60% deposit of the total price to start assembling your system. You can come and see your own system being assembled at our solar lab.
Our solar components come on a « solar board » with inverter(s), charge controller(s), accessories, fuses and breakers, bus bars, changeover switch… All pre-wired and connected. Sustainable Earth’s specifity is that we DO NOT do this assembly at your place, not knowing if all will work. We come with a solar board that has been tested at our solar lab for 5 + days. We know it works perfectly!
No surprise: we simply hang it on your wall.
1. We design your custom-made « solar board » at our solar lab
2. We install this « solar board » at your house bysimply hanging it on a wall
3. We install the solar panels on their racks, on your roof
At the same time, while one group of our team installs your solar board inside the house, the other part of the team installs the solar panels on their racks, generally on your roof. Finally the 2 groups work together to connect the solar panels to the solar board.
Most of the time we can install a solar system on site in one working day. Simply because the longest part of the work has already been done at our solar lab.
Once all is installed and connected, we spend time showing you how the system works, how to operate and monitor it on your phone, tablet or computer.
Victron and Ecoflow systems are very user friendly. We will continue to hold your hand for the first months of operation as we too can access and monitor your solar system online (we currently monitor more than 50 solar systems in Dominica online).
Last but not least... Serenity on Warranty
Because we fully trust the brands we work with, because we have tested your solar system for a few days, and because we know we install these systems correctly, WE, Sustainable Earth Inc, in Dominica, will substitute ourselves to the manufacturers for the warranty. You get a 5 years warranty (on most components) but only need to call Sustainable earth for any problem under warranty and we would come the next day with the replacement part (as we have most of these in stock on island) and replace it so you are back on solar immediately.
This is serenity at its best .