Call (512) 866-4970
Residential Solar · Bastrop & Fayette County, TX

Custom Solar System Design & Shade Analysis in Bastrop & Fayette County, TX

Every system starts with an on-site visit, not a satellite estimate — mapping where shade actually falls through the day and sizing the system around your real usage, not a standard package resized to fit.

Call (512) 866-4970 Get a Free Quote
Serving Bastrop & Fayette County, TX
Free On-Site Assessment, No Pressure
Sized Around Your Actual Property and Usage — Not a Template
Quick Check

Does Your Situation Sound Like This?

Worth a second look. A satellite-only estimate can't reliably catch where a specific tree or structure actually shades your property at different times of day and year.

Exactly what shade analysis is built to catch. Even partial shade from one tree at certain times of day can meaningfully cut output — mapped across seasons, not just checked once at noon.

That's the point of this step. We pull your real usage from a utility bill or smart meter data rather than guessing from square footage.

Tell us during the design visit. It's cheaper to size a system for that future capacity now than to expand it later.

This is where an on-site visit matters most. Multiple roof angles or sections change panel placement and mount-type decisions in ways a flat estimate misses.

Fair — that's why we do this differently. The output is a specific layout matched to your property, not a generic package resized to fit your address.

Why It Matters

Why an On-Site Visit Beats a Satellite Estimate

Shade Is a Bigger Factor Than Most Homeowners Expect

Even partial shade from a single tree branch or structure at certain times of day can measurably cut a solar array's output — shading is consistently one of the largest sources of production loss in residential solar, often larger than people assume from looking at a shaded corner that "doesn't look that bad." A satellite-only estimate, generated without ever walking the property, typically can't catch this — it sees roof area and orientation, not where a specific oak tree's shadow actually falls at 3 p.m. in July versus January.

Shade Has to Be Mapped Across the Year, Not at One Moment

The sun's path changes meaningfully from summer to winter, so a shadow pattern checked once at noon on a sunny day misses how that same tree or structure behaves at other times of day and other seasons. A real assessment maps this across the year rather than from a single snapshot, using on-site tools and the property's actual geometry rather than assuming a static shade pattern.

The Output Is a Specific Layout, Not a Generic Package

The result of a real system design is a specific plan: panel count, placement, mount type, and inverter choice, matched to your property's actual sun exposure, roof or land condition, and household usage — including anything you're planning to add later, like an EV or a workshop, since it's cheaper to size for that capacity upfront than expand a system afterward.

Costs & Incentives

What Solar Actually Costs Right Now

Pricing

No flat installed-cost number posted here — the whole point of this step is that your real quote depends on what the design process finds, not a generic estimate.

Federal Tax Credit

The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit ended for systems installed on or after January 1, 2026 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act, per IRS FS-2025-05). Older marketing referencing a 30% federal credit is outdated.

Texas Property Tax Exemption

Still active. Texas Tax Code §11.27 exempts the added value of a solar energy device from your home's appraised value — filed via Form 50-123 with your county appraisal district.

Panel & Inverter Warranty

Panels typically carry a 25-year performance warranty. Inverters typically carry 10 to 15 years for a string inverter.

Top Questions, Ranked

System Design & Shade Analysis FAQ

1. What actually happens during a system design and shade analysis visit?
We walk the property, check your roof or land, map where shade actually falls through the day and across the seasons, and review your real electricity usage — pulled from a utility bill or smart meter data where available. The output is a specific layout: panel count, placement, mount type, and inverter choice.
2. How much can shade really reduce a solar system's output?
More than most people expect — even partial shade from a single tree or structure at certain times of day can meaningfully cut production, and it's one of the more common causes of a system underperforming its projected output. That's exactly why mapping it properly, rather than eyeballing it, matters before a system gets sized.
3. Do you actually visit the property, or is this done from satellite imagery?
We visit the property. Satellite imagery can suggest roof orientation and rough sun exposure, but it can't reliably capture how a specific tree, chimney, or neighboring structure shades your roof or land at different times of day and year — that requires being there.
4. How is the system sized to my actual usage instead of a generic package?
We pull your real electricity usage — from a utility bill or smart meter data where available — and size the system around that number, plus anything you're planning to add later, rather than a generic per-square-foot or per-household estimate.
5. What tools are used to map shade throughout the year, not just at one moment?
On-site shade mapping accounts for how the sun's path changes from summer to winter, not just what a single snapshot shows on the day of the visit. This is checked property by property rather than assumed from general seasonal averages.
6. Does partial shade from just one tree actually matter that much?
Often yes — heavy, all-day shade across a whole property is the real limiting factor, but even a single tree shading part of a roof or array for a few hours a day can meaningfully affect output for the panels in that shadow. This gets factored into the design rather than dismissed as minor.
7. Can the design account for something I'm planning to add later, like an EV or a pool?
Yes — telling us about planned future usage during the design visit lets the system get sized with that capacity in mind from the start, which is cheaper than expanding a system later.
8. How long does the design process take before I get a real quote?
The on-site visit itself is typically a single appointment; turning that into a finished design and quote takes some follow-up time to properly map shade data and finalize equipment choices, rather than a same-day generic number.
9. What do I actually receive at the end of this process?
A specific system design: panel count and placement, mount type (roof or ground), inverter choice, and a quote based on that actual layout — not a generic package resized to fit your address.
10. What happens if this step gets skipped or done poorly?
A system designed without a real on-site shade and usage assessment risks being undersized, oversized, or placed where shade cuts into its output more than expected — problems that are expensive to fix after installation and much cheaper to catch during design.
Where We Work

Serving Bastrop & Fayette County

See Roof-Mount Solar Installation and Ground-Mount Solar Installation for how this design process leads into each mounting option, or the full Residential Solar Panel Installation overview.

Ready for a Real On-Site Assessment?

Get a free, no-pressure system design visit for your property in Bastrop or Fayette County.

Call (512) 866-4970