Six houses, measured
What we actually built, and what it actually produced
Every project here carries the number that matters: measured first-year energy against the model, blower door readings before and after, and the design decision that made the difference. Including the ones where we talked somebody out of spending more.
North End, Louisville, 11.4 kW DCNot a gallery
Case files, with the arithmetic left in
Photographs of finished roofs prove nothing. Measured production against a published model proves something.
- 2025Martin Acres, BoulderA 1958 ranch that needed the attic before the roofThe homeowners asked for 11 kW. The blower door said 12.6 ACH50. We sealed and insulated first, then installed 6.8 kW and beat their original target bill.9,640 kWh in year one against a modelled 9,440 kWh. Variance plus 2.1 percent.Whole-home energy auditAttic air sealing and R-60Rim joist foam
2025Gunbarrel, BoulderBackup designed around a well pump, not a brochureA 1.5 hp submersible pump surging past 7 kW set the inverter class before daily kWh did. Two battery modules, one soft starter, and a protected panel that actually holds up.31 hours of protected-panel runtime on 27 kWh usable, with no solar contribution.Circuit load listProtected loads subpanel27 kWh usable storage
2024North End, LouisvilleAn all-electric rebuild, sized from the Manual J upA 2.4 ACH50 rebuild with a 34,800 Btu per hour design load. The tight envelope let us drop a heat pump size and put the savings into a bigger array.16,220 kWh produced against 17,940 kWh consumed. Ninety percent offset on an all-electric house with an EV.Manual J load calculationDucted cold-climate heat pumpHeat pump water heater
2025Whittier, BoulderEleven modules, four topologies modelled, one clear winnerTwo mature cottonwoods put moving shade across the south plane every afternoon from May. The string design lost 24 percent; microinverters lost 6 percent.6,090 kWh in year one, within 1.4 percent of the shaded model.Per-module shade analysisTopology comparison4.6 kW DC array with microinverters
2024Southmoor Park, LongmontA battery bought for the rate, not for the outagesNo solar, no outage anxiety, just a time-of-use rate and 8.4 kWh a day moving out of the 3 to 7 pm window.8.4 kWh a weekday shifted out of the on-peak window, $271 modelled annual value.Time-of-use rate analysis13.5 kWh batteryLoad shifting schedule
2025Original Town, SuperiorHigh wind corridor racking on a Superior rebuildReduced foot spacing, a higher uplift zone specification and a reroof-and-array in one mobilisation on a new-build replacement.12,410 kWh in year one. Eleven days from HOA submission to approval.Solar-ready reroof8.7 kW DC arrayHigh-uplift racking
Your house is not any of these six
Which is the point. The audit produces your numbers, and the proposal follows from them rather than from a package name.