Designing with Solar Power in Mind: An Architect’s Vision

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Quick Stats

System size: 8.4kW

Avg. monthly bill before solar: $3,344

Avg. estimated bill after solar: $670

Total projected savings over 40 years: $107,153

Potential annual electricity offset: 75%

As an architect, Viola Rouhani has incorporated solar power into countless homes she has designed on the East Coast. A strong advocate of sustainability, she believes in creating a seamless dialogue between nature and architecture, and her home designs often reflect this organic sensibility.

When it came time to design her own family’s home, Viola planned to include solar energy from the very beginning.

“Clean energy measures were one of the drivers of the design of my family house,” Viola explains. “The house is intentionally oriented directly on the north-south axis to benefit from both passive and active solar energy measures.”

Allowing sunlight to warm the home naturally was one of the measures she incorporated into her design, reducing energy use. The other was adding SunVault® storage alongside a SunPower Equinox® system and enjoying a solar solution all designed and warranted by one company.

The sleek, all-black solar panels fit nicely on the roof of the home, with the SunVault energy storage system tucked neatly in the garage.

The 8.4kW solar system with storage enables the Rouhani family to generate renewable energy all day long and store excess energy generated for use at night, when power grid prices are higher. If the power goes out due to weather or grid brownouts, the lights can stay on at the Rouhani house.

Partnering with the Right Solar Installer

A partner at the firm Stelle Lomont Rouhani, Viola has worked with SunPower dealer GreenLogic for years on several solar installations for homes in the area. Her experience installing solar panels on her own home with GreenLogic was no different from the others.

“It was a great experience from start to finish,” Viola notes. “Everything was thoughtfully explained, expectations managed, and even now that the system is installed and running, the team continues to keep in touch regarding the monitoring and answering any questions.”

Award-Winning Design and Performance

Not surprisingly, the Rouhani home was recently recognized with a SunPower Excellence in Design and Installation Award for its elegant design and installation quality as well as homeowner satisfaction. It’s the fourth time GreenLogic has been distinguished with such an award.

For her part, Viola is proud of the home’s ability to impact the environment, which she can monitor from virtually anywhere using the mySunPower® app.

“There’s a great sense of satisfaction in being able to monitor how much clean energy is being produced by the system at any given moment and relating that back to how this is helping the environment,” she says. “Every bit we can do to move toward a greener, less wasteful world is a plus. The more folks who can get behind going solar, the better for all of us.”

For more information on how SunPower can help you reduce your energy use and environmental impact, reach out to a SunPower residential solar advisor by clicking the Get Started button.