Farmers Harvest the Sun for Lower Energy Costs

Weller

Farmers across Illinois and Missouri are discovering solar as a great investment and can stabilize their energy costs. With federal and state incentives for agricultural operations, 2020 is shaping to be a great year for farmers to go solar. There are three federal incentives, as well as two incentives Illinois-specific, and one Missouri incentive appropriate […]

What is the Future of the Federal Solar Tax Credit Incentive?

Weller

What is the Future of the Federal Solar Tax Credit Incentive? You might have heard that the 30% Federal Tax Investment Credit is stepping down to 26% in 2020. What you may not have heard is that the Federal Tax Investment Credit will step down again in 2021, to 22%. Finally, in 2022 it will […]

PACE: New Financing Option for Solar

Manns

Named one of the top 20 world-changing ideas by Scientific American magazine, property assessed clean energy (PACE) is a simple, effective way to pay for a solar installation with little or no money down. The Manns Family, using PACE, installed a 7.7 kW array and will save hundreds of dollars in utility costs in the first year alone. PACE is a simple. It is solar financing that […]

StraightUp Solar Recognized as a Top Solar Contractor

top 500 solar

StraightUp Solar is honored to be named one of the top solar contractors in the United States by Solar Power World magazine. The Top Solar Contractors list is developed by Solar Power World to recognize the work completed by solar contractors across the United States. Produced annually, the Top Solar Contractors list celebrates the achievements […]

June 2017: Professional Self Storage

Professional Self Storage

Bloomington-Normal got a little brighter this month with the installation of a 123.75 kW solar PV system at the Foundry Square in Bloomington, Illinois. This system’s solar energy will be used to power the newly opened Green Top Grocery, Bloomington Cycle & Fitness, and The Gingerbread House located within the Square.    The system is made up of 375 solar modules with a capacity of 330 watts each, and 9 SMA inverters. The system […]

Solar Incentives Shining Brightly in Missouri and Illinois

ILLINOIS  Homeowners and businesses can reduce their system cost by 20% with Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS). These cash payments are paid quarterly over 5 years and are akin to a rebate.  The amount paid is based on net metered production of the solar system.   *Churches and schools in Illinois can save significant funds with Power […]

February 2017: Vision Care Goes Solar

VisionCare Tribal Feb

Vision Care Associates, located in Swansea, Illinois, recently added 24.75 kilowatts (kW) of solar electric (PV) energy to the office of their well-regarded Optometry practice. StraightUp Solar is proud that Vision Care’s Dr. Michael Murphy, who also has solar at his home, chose to go with StraightUp’s full-service solar installation offering to meet the energy […]

Hurry: Highest Value SRECs Expire Dec

SREC 2

In June of this year, StraightUp Solar acquired a number of SREC contract reservations for future solar energy projects – to be built before December 2016.  We jumped on the June opportunity to purchase SREC contract reservations because our experience told us that subsequent opportunities to purchase SRECs in what is known as Illinois’ Supplemental SREC Procurement market […]

Why Are My Inverters And Solar PV Array Not The Same Size?

enphase m250

A common question in solar is “Why are you installing a 260 watt solar module on a 215 watt microinverter?” Or for central inverters, “Why is my system a 9,000 watt system on a 8,000 watt inverter?” Solar modules don’t produce their nameplate (DC) rating even with perfect sunlight that is perfectly oriented to the […]