Home Solar/Battery — What Are The Pros/Cons

With the constant increase in energy usage as well as the increasing cost of electricity, homeowners today may find it financially viable to consider adding solar power and a home battery to their residence. Most solar systems will last about 20+ years with little to no additional costs other than installation. A secondary benefit if you include a home battery is your energy independence from the grid. No longer are you impacted during rolling brownouts in the summer months, potentially out of power during a storm, or down when your utility company performs maintenance.

1st — What is your current roof age and associated life expediency? Do not install solar panels with a 20+ year life on a roof with significantly less life remaining. You cannot replace a roof without removing the panels. Depending on your panel age and construction techniques used for attachment, it may not be viable to reinstall the panels.

2nd — What are your climate characteristics (i.e., amount of sun exposure), roof orientation, and size? West and south facing roofs have the greatest amount of sun exposure, and California in general is a very good climate for solar power. New panel technology is much more effective at capturing energy from indirect sunlight or cloudy days but still not as efficient as panels with optimal orientation and climate.

3rd — What are your plans for this residence? Solar panels typically increase the value of a home but not as much as they cost, therefore you need to ensure you will own this home long enough to see a return on your investment. Another consideration is lease (some are transferrable and some are not) vs. buy (some loans are transferrable and some are not). When you are selling your home if a lease (that is not transferrable) or loan (that is not transferrable) is involved, you will be required to pay off the panel system at the time of sale. If it is a lease or loan is transferrable, the new homeowners may not want or be able to assume the lease/loan. Lease systems typically have requirements about utility providers and energy rates. Make sure you are aware of all the lease or loan requirements so you are not surprised.

4th — What is your lifestyle currently and in the future? Do you own an electric vehicle? Do you plan to own one during the time the panels will be active? What is your current home energy usage? Do you have a pool (i.e., pump running 24/7)? How many heavy energy products are you using? How often do you experience power interruptions that are negatively impacting your life (i.e., loss of cooling during heat wave events, interruption to home business, inability to perform tasks as home due to power loss, etc….)?

5th — Cost? Once you know your current and future planned energy usage, you need to evaluate how much energy should the panel system generate vs. how much it costs to install it. Remember, unless you install a home battery, you will NEVER use the power directly. All panel generated power must first be transferred to your utility company (and they charge a transport fee per kWh). If you have a home battery, most systems are set up to use the panel power from the battery first and only supplement from your utility company if there is a shortfall. With a panel only system, you will be “dead” anytime your utility electricity is out. Considering these facts, most homeowners will need to install at least a home battery that will cover their needs for 24–48 hours in order to maximize their benefits.

6th — Panel system manufacturers going out of business. Most manufacturers will not work or provide parts for any system other than their own. If they go out of business, any warranties will be void and the system may not be repairable.

7th — HOA and local covenant requirements. While California is very pro solar, your HOA or other local requirements may prohibit some systems, especially if they will not be considered aesthetically pleasing.

I recommend you research and get quotes from more than one company. Each will have various pros/cons but make sure you also review their current public financial information. In California due to issues with Sunpower (https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/sunpower-a-major-solar-installer-went-bankrupt-what-now/) many homeowners are experiencing some real horror stories that can significantly impact their ability to sell their property or make repairs to the panel system. Cnet (https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/california-solar-panels/) has done some very good research about current providers by zip code.

If you are replacing the roof at the same time, make sure you review the new roofing options that incorporate solar. GAF makes a solar shingle (https://www.gaf.energy/timberline-solar/) product that will resolve most concerns about aesthetics as well as it is installable by regular roofers (i.e., it doesn’t have to be a solar installer specialist). Tesla’s solar roof (https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/solar-roof/learn/why-solar-roof) is pricey but comes in a tile format that is very low visibility. Both systems are very durable with excellent ratings.

Company Training — Is Yours Up-To-Date?

Typically, most small business owners have very little accurate/up-to-date company training documentation. Even more importantly with millennials, the training is typically a list of steps and not screenshots or short video formatted. Unfortunately, this becomes apparent when attempting to onboard a new team member. It is not unusual to see new employees updating training as they are attempting to onboard and function in their new job/role. This sets everyone up for failure.

Even as an employee, if the company doesn’t have up-to-date or complete training documentation on your job/role/responsibilities, do it yourself. This information is invaluable when preparing for your performance review, updating your resume, or requesting help/additional staff.

Historically, training is a list of steps that may or may not include how to information. Today, younger employees find this lacking. They are expecting screenshots or short video detailing/showing the steps outlined in the training. Before using various smart or recording tools, make sure you are not violating any company policies. Quite often 3rd party tools will keep a copy of the data/screenshots involved in any training you create using their services. This could be a violation of your company’s policies and result in company or client data loss.

Some Currently Available Smart Tools:

Obviously good training content can be created using typical resources like Microsoft Office, Apple Office programs, etc… but remember it should be more involved than a list of steps. The content must be up-to-date, accurate, at a minimum include screenshots, probably include short video examples, and include url/program specific information. Don’t make the user have to look up content elsewhere just to complete a step or understand an instruction.

Give me a call if you need some help updating your company training content. Don’t forget to regularly have employees review their current job/roles/duties in relation to training and documentation content to ensure it is current and reflective of their duties. Waiting until someone turns in a notice, retirement, or medical emergency is not a recipe for success.

How Or What Equipment To Install Audio In Your Home — Without Needing To Open Walls For Wiring!

Home audio installations or upgrades can enhance your home with minimal disruption to your life by not using a “wired” system.

The first consideration is your home network. If you are going to install multiple speakers and/or sound/video playing devices, you will need a robust and stable Wi-Fi network in your home. For most homes, this will be a mesh router. The default gateway (router & wireless router combined) provided by your internet provider will just not be enough bandwidth to cover the typical household as well as audio upgrades.

Here are some typical mesh router options:

After ensuring you have enough Wi-Fi coverage to handle the extra load, the next question to answer is, “What features am I looking for?”.

Some Examples:

  • Do I want multiple rooms to synchronize and therefore play the same stuff from a single source?
  • Do I want outdoor/backyard coverage?
  • How many channels do I want in a single “zone”?
  • Speakers come in different types (Ex., tweeters, base, soundbars, midrange, etc….). What mix of speakers do you want?
  • Do already have some equipment and therefore want your new stuff to be compatible so you can mix and match equipment?

It is always easier to work with a single system/brand, especially if you are trying to synchronize a single source through multiple rooms or locations in your home. A typical example of this is kitchen only when you are home by yourself but when guests are over you want the same sound source to project from speakers in all the common areas (Ex:, kitchen, living room, dining room, outdoor space, etc….). Sonos immersive theater set (Link: https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/premium-immersive-set-arc-ultra-sub-era-100-pair-black) combined with their outdoor set (Link: https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/indoor-outdoor-set-era-100-move-2-black) give you a good living room and outdoor space option. You can add additional speakers to cover larger areas or more rooms. The Sonos app allows you to group speakers into specific zones, so you can create multiple or single environments of sound.

Channels are what audio people talk about when describing how many unique output speakers a single source uses. For example, a 5.2 channel system could have 2 tower speakers, 2 base speakers, 2 bookshelf speakers, and 1 center speaker (Example: https://www.polkaudio.com/en-us/product/all-brands/signature-elite-platinum-home-theater-system/BN1024.html#specifications). You need to understand how many channels you need to achieve your performance requirements. This is where talking to a specialist is really important. You should walk through what you want to do (i.e., play one source in kitchen space, play same source in kitchen, outdoor, and living room space, play a source in the media room in the basement but never synchronize or share it with the speakers upstairs, etc….) and a specialist can design a system to make that happen.

Now that you have your requirements, you can pick a brand/price point of components that meet your needs and include wireless connectivity options.

Some equipment options are:

The key is to understand is that wireless systems only require an electrical outlet and Wi-Fi coverage. If you have a wired system, you will need to connect the speakers to your amp or music source with a built-in amp via monster cable or some other audio wire. In an existing home, this either requires exposed wires or opening up walls to install wires behind drywall/plaster. Wireless speakers use your Wi-Fi network to transmit the audio data, therefore they only require an electrical outlet or battery source. Typically, the wireless speakers must all be the same brand to function with a branded source and be controlled by a single app from your phone.

Why/If You Should Update/Migrate to Windows 11!

So the first question is do you have IT support provided by your company. If so, they should already have a migration plan in place. If not, then the short answer is yes, but you do need to keep some considerations in mind.

  • Is my equipment ready? If you are getting a notice from Microsoft to upgrade, then your equipment should be ready. If not, this would be a good time to consider if you need to replace existing equipment because it will not support the upcoming Windows OS. Here is the Microsoft list of minimum requirements (Link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications). Obviously, almost any IT person would tell you never run a Windows OS at just the minimum requirements if you want a smooth, stable working environment.
  • Limited timetable for existing Windows users to upgrade to Windows 11 at no charge. Currently, Windows 10 is schedule for “end-of-life” by Microsoft for October 14, 2025. While Microsoft has not given a specific date for the free upgrade ending, they have stated repeatedly that it is a limited time offer. It would not be surprising for the free upgrade to end sometime around or after Windows 10 is sunset.
  • New software written for the latest Operating System (OS). Any new software you are installing/purchasing will be configured for optimal performance in the latest Windows OS. Many times it will work with an old OS but not as fast and stable or specific features may be disabled.
  • Windows 11 includes significant security enhancements. Windows 11 includes many security enhancements, including boot isolation and enhanced application controls. Some of these enhancements require specific hardware components, which maybe why it is not practical to upgrade your existing equipment (Link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/learning-center/windows-11-security-features). In my opinion, while these enhancements are great, they do not take the place of a 3rd party firewall and antivirus application….especially if your device has client personally identifiable information (PII).

Both Apple and Windows OS should be updated regularly. If you don’t have a company controlled computer asset, you should have automatic updates turned on. Even with them scheduled, you still should do a manual check because many of the major OS updates or the “optional” 3rd party drivers (i.e., monitor, keyboard, mouse, Bluetooth, etc…) do not automatically install. You should have a monthly reminder to check your updates to see if there is anything you want to install.

Give me a call/text/reach out via my website if you need some support to figure out your equipment and updating situation.

Making Your Lawn Care — Smart!

Typically, most of us solve this problem by hiring a lawn maintenance service. For some, that is the best solution. But, if you want to do it yourself, consider some of these new tools!

  • Husqvarna Automower 415X Robot Lawn Mower (https://a.co/d/4FPgO3X). This GPS assisted robot will ensure you always have a freshly cut lawn. Good for yards under 0.4 Acres.
  • Sunseeker L22 Plus Robot Lawn Mower (https://a.co/d/cJOWvDO). This guy can handle just about any yard layout and has both rain and boundary wire sensors. The device is IPX5 waterproof, so easy to clean off with a hose.
  • Segway Navimow i105N Robot Lawn Mower (https://a.co/d/9bPk4i0). This is probably the best option if you are not a “geek” or not comfortable with technology.
  • Irrigreen Lawn Irrigation (https://irrigreen.com/). Keep a green lawn and use up to 50% less water than other systems.
  • B-Hyve Smart Water Management (https://www.orbitonline.com/collections/b-hyve). Completely customizable system with a complete array of products for DIY water management installations.

In addition to these DIY tools, professional services are now using AI-Driven lawn analysis to customize your care needs. This greatly reduces chemical usage while improving lawn health. New eco-friendly fertilization and soil health monitoring tools/products are now available to ensure your yard rivals the local golf course!

Don’t forget, some are choosing to just go astroturf or native only plants! Either of these solutions can greatly lower your maintenance while still providing that perfect curb appeal look.

Note-Taking or Meeting Notes — How AI Has Changed The Formula!

One of the first things most of us learn is how to take notes. This is used extensively in your childhood education years but also later in life. Almost any business you are in will involve meetings. How to take notes (either by memory or written) is a must. If you are going to college or trade school, capturing data from a lecture will be a requirement. Almost everyone has experienced that family phone call or friend chat where you wished you has some written notes to reference!

How to do that has changed radically because of artificial intelligence (AI)! At very low cost, there are now multiple devices that use new and highly improved sound capturing tools combined with AI analysis to create extremely accurate and effective notes. Some of these devices are even HIPAA-compliant, if your industry has such requirements. Here are a few examples:

  • Jamie (https://www.meetjamie.ai/) — Features: Transcription, speaker recognition/memory, action item detection, AI assistant, multiple languages, summary maker, ability to use offline, works with most Video Conferencing Platforms; I consider this one of the better computer/laptop based type programs with a simple interface, but the major drawback is no video recording available and no mobile app is available yet.
  • Tactiq (https://tactiq.io/ai-tools/ai-note-taker) — Features: Complete integration with Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, multiple Languages, real-time transcription, speaker recognition/memory, automatically saves transcripts to Google Drive. I consider this one of the best virtual meeting note-taking tools, but it is limited to only Chrome.
  • Plaud Note (https://www.plaud.ai/products/plaud-note-ai-voice-recorder) — Features: Uses 2 different AI models, 30 hours continuous recording/60 days standby/64GB storage device, multiple languages, Multiple templates for note-taking format/results, Unlimited cloud storage, very small physical device. I consider this one of the best stand-alone devices. The very simple design means it will almost fit in your wallet and differently any purse/bag you may take to a meeting. It will fit into most men’s pants pocket. Create preloaded template tools for AI analysis of meeting including mind maps, action items, and multiple summary formats.
  • HiDock (https://www.hidock.com/) — Features: Desk Docking Station Device, has a WebApp version, transcribes up to 4 continuous hours of audio, speaker recognition/memory, multiple Languages, multiple template formats for summaries, exports into multiple formats, Lifetime free transcription service with device purchase. For the person with a designated office (especially for an office administrator supporting multiple co-workers)

This list is not all-inclusive of features and other options are available, but if you have a kid getting ready for college, a small business owner (i.e., cannot afford support staff), an office worker, etc… something like this is a game changer. When in a meeting or lecture, they can be listening and participating without worrying about capturing content for future review. If you work for a company, obviously you will need to coordinate with them to ensure any industry or company specific security needs are met. Some of these systems/tools have enhanced security features. If you just require some help and don’t have IT support, give me a call and I can help you figure out which solution would be the best for you.

Contacts and Calendar Synchronization

Do you have more than one email, calendar, or contacts provider and/or application you are using? Would it be really helpful if that iPhone calendar or contacts would automatically update with any changes made on your computer? This can be done relatively easily.

The first question you need to ask is do you really need more than one system? For example, if you like or prefer the layout and screens of the Google calendar on your Android cell phone but want to use Outlook on your computer and your email address is from Yahoo, that doesn’t mean you need to use more than one account. The Outlook computer application and Google calendar Android application can both access and use your Yahoo account. This means everything shows the same information and updates almost real time with changes.

If you really require more than one provider and want to synchronize, then you will need to use a 3rd party software to automatically update changes. I personally prefer SyncGene (Link: https://www.syncgene.com/). It is very good at bidirectional (doesn’t matter where you make the changes) updating and can handle more than 2 sources.

If you have a website, and it has a scheduling/appointment feature, you will need to check with your website administrator to see if it can sync with your personal calendar provider. For example, Calendly used to sync with Apple/iPhone calendar, but that feature has been removed. I highly recommend that you make that a requirement even if you don’t need it right now, anytime you have a scheduling feature added to your website. You can always choose not to use it but adding it later may require upgrading your website to a different widget.

Due to the various technical requirements of solving this question, this requires a “geek” to find the optimal solution for you.

Smart Appliances — Ovens

Are you looking to make an oven upgrade to your kitchen and want to know about a “smart oven”?

What are the advantages of a smart oven?

  • Wi-Fi connectivity allows you to control your oven remotely through your phone/computer.
  • Real-Time notifications means you don’t have to be in the kitchen to “hear the buzzer”.
  • Voice controls allow you to be hands-free. This is especially useful in the kitchen when your hands typically involved in food prep.
  • Various automatic cooking controls allows you to never miss a critical temp change or oven setting during the cooking process.
  • Enhanced energy efficiency.

Here are some currently available models to consider.