Brothers Daran and Devan Wastchak offer a rare, side-by-side look at two real installations: one roof-mounted, one ground-mounted. Their experience goes beyond the typical “go solar” narrative, breaking down the full lifecycle of adoption—from early decision-making and system design to financing, permitting, and installation. Daran Wastchak will share everything they learned in a webinar on May 20 at 2 PM ET.
As they learned, installing a system is one thing. Operating it—optimizing when to store energy, when to use it, and when to sell it back to the grid—is something else entirely. Using tools like the Tesla app, they’ve been able to actively manage performance, track generation and storage, and compare real utility bills before and after installation.
But the complexity doesn’t stop at the home.
As a participant in a Distributed Energy Resource (DER) and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program, Daran will dive deeper, explaining how he has navigated an evolving energy landscape where utilities are increasingly tapping into residential systems as part of the broader grid. That means coordinating solar production, battery storage, EV charging, and smart thermostats—all while meeting program requirements and maximizing incentives.
It’s a balancing act—and a preview of where the market is heading.
“Without the cushion of federal incentives, homeowners and builders alike are being pushed to think more critically about system design, long-term performance, and integration with utility programs,” says Daran Wastchak. “The question is no longer just whether to go solar—but how to make it work in a more complex, more connected energy ecosystem.”
This webinar is a true case study and breaks it all down, offering a clear, real-world perspective on solar decision making, installation, and operation.