Having solar installed on your residential or commercial property can be a great long-term investment—especially if you use a lot of electricity. But as you might have gathered in your research of different solar companies, it matters which company you go with for solar. There are companies that come in hot and sell a huge number of systems, and then seem to disappear almost overnight. Then there are those that do shoddy installations that cause all kinds of problems and also don’t deliver the savings they promised their customers.
Here’s another type of solar company you need to look out for—one that doesn’t take the proper precautions prior to installing your system.
If you are having a carport-style system or a ground-mount racking system installed, your solar company should bring in a GPR scanning service like Enhanced Scanning prior to installation. This is because there is typically some amount of trenching and pile driving involved in these types of installations. If you don’t have a GPR scan done prior to starting the installation, the solar installers could accidentally hit a buried utility line or something else, causing damage to whatever is buried underground or injury to whomever is doing the work.
Before you sign a contract to have solar installed on your property, read through the contract to see if any sort of underground scanning is included. If it’s not, be sure to ask about it, and if your solar company doesn’t provide this service, you may need to contact a company like Enhanced Scanning that provides GPR scanning services (or go with a different solar company).
When we go to properties prior to solar installations, we thoroughly scan the area that will be disturbed using ground penetrating radar (GPR), a safe, effective, non-destructive scanning technology. We are looking for any hazards that could get in the way of trenching, digging, or pile driving. We will mark the ground where any hazards are located, so they can be avoided or relocated.
Completing a GPR scan for a typical solar project can be completed in only a couple of hours. An Enhanced Scanning technician can usually get to a job within a day or two of a service call, so even if you wait until the last minute to get your GPR scan done, it won’t delay your project by much. However, it’s best to be proactive and have the area scanned so it’s ready for the solar installation team when they are ready to get started.
If you need GPR scanning services on your commercial or residential property in Southern California prior to a solar installation, contact us today to schedule service! We also partner with solar companies that are looking for a GPR scanning company to provide their clients with reliable underground scans.