FAQ & Glossary — Speak the Language

An EV (Electric Vehicle) runs on a rechargeable battery pack that drives one or more electric motors. Battery EVs (BEVs) plug in to charge; plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) combine a smaller battery with a gas engine. From an installation standpoint, what matters is the onboard charger's max draw (typically 7.7–11.5 kW for residential) and the connector type — J1772 in North America for AC, NACS or CCS for DC fast charging.

EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) is the wall-mounted unit that delivers AC power to your vehicle. The actual battery charger lives inside the car — the EVSE handles ground-fault detection, contactor switching, and communication (pilot signal) to tell the car how much current is safe to draw. Level 1 EVSE uses a standard 120 V outlet (slow). Level 2 uses 240 V on a dedicated circuit (typically 30–60 A) and is what we install for most homes. DC fast chargers (Level 3) are commercial and bypass the car's onboard charger entirely.

A PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) has a smaller battery than a pure EV plus a gasoline engine. You plug it in to charge for everyday driving — typically 40–80 km of electric range — and the gas engine takes over for longer trips. PHEVs charge fine on Level 1 (120 V) overnight because their batteries are smaller, but a Level 2 (240 V) charger fills them in 1–3 hours, which is useful if you drive multiple short trips a day.

Charging current is the amperage your EVSE delivers to the vehicle. Common Level 2 settings are 30 A, 40 A, 48 A, and 60 A. Higher current charges faster — a 48 A charger adds roughly twice the range per hour of a 24 A unit — but it also requires a larger breaker (with continuous-load derating, a 48 A charger needs a 60 A breaker) and thicker conductor in the wall. We size the circuit based on your panel's available capacity and how fast you actually need to charge.

The main breaker is the largest breaker in your electrical panel and disconnects the entire home from the utility supply. Its amperage rating — typically 100 A in older homes, 200 A in newer builds — is the total power your service can carry. Adding an EV charger or solar array means we calculate whether your existing load plus the new circuit stays under that limit. If not, options include load management (sharing capacity dynamically) or a service upgrade to a larger main.

Tier 1 is Bloomberg New Energy Finance's ranking of solar panel manufacturers based on production scale and financial stability. A Tier 1 panel comes from a company likely to still be around in 25 years to honour its warranty — that's the whole point. Tier 1 modules are also tested to stricter standards (IEC 61215 durability, IEC 61730 safety) and almost universally carry 25-year power output warranties. K-Jay specs Tier 1 modules on every solar install unless a customer specifically asks otherwise.

An NVR (Network Video Recorder) is a purpose-built device that records and stores feeds from IP security cameras over your local network. Unlike cloud-only systems, the footage lives on a hard drive in your home — you own it, nothing is subscription-locked, and it keeps recording even if the internet goes out. NVRs typically store 30+ days of continuous 4K footage and let you scrub through events from a phone app. Capacity is expandable by swapping in larger drives down the road.

Hardwiring a security camera means pulling a Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cable from each camera back to a central switch or NVR. The cable carries both data and power (via PoE), so each camera needs just one wire and never depends on Wi-Fi or batteries. Cat5e handles 1 Gbps over 100 m and is fine for 4K cameras; Cat6 adds shielding and headroom for future upgrades. Doing this during a new build or renovation is dramatically cheaper than fishing cables through finished walls later.

PoE (Power over Ethernet) is a standard that delivers DC power along with network data over a single Cat5e/Cat6 cable. A PoE switch or NVR injects up to 30 W (PoE+) or 60 W (PoE++) per port, plenty to run a 4K camera and its IR illuminator. The big wins are install simplicity (no AC outlet at each camera location), centralized backup (put the switch on a UPS and every camera stays up during outages), and clean diagnostics — you can power-cycle a single camera from the switch software.

The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC, also known as CSA C22.1) is the national safety standard for electrical installations across Canada, adopted into law by each province with minor amendments. It covers everything from wire gauge and breaker sizing to bonding, grounding, and equipment clearances. It's updated on a regular cycle, so the version in force evolves over time. When K-Jay says "code-compliant," it means every conductor, connection, and clearance meets the CEC plus Alberta's amendments in effect at the time of install, verified by a licensed inspector.

An electrical permit is a document issued by the municipality (City of Edmonton, in our case) that authorizes a specific electrical install. The licensed contractor pulls the permit, performs the work to CEC standards, and then a city electrical inspector visits the site to verify compliance before energizing. Permits protect you in three ways: insurance stays valid after a claim, the work is verified by a third party, and there's a paper trail when you sell the home. K-Jay handles all permit applications and inspections — you never see the paperwork.

Level 1 (L1) charging uses a standard 120 V outlet and delivers roughly 1.4–1.9 kW, adding about 6–8 km of range per hour. It's the slowest option — overnight charging may only fill 60–80 km — but it requires no install and works at any outlet. L1 is fine for PHEVs and for EV owners who drive short daily distances.

Level 2 (L2) charging runs at 240 V on a dedicated circuit, typically 30–60 A, delivering 7–11 kW. That's enough to add 40–60 km of range per hour and fully charge most EVs overnight. L2 needs an installed EVSE (the wall unit) and a dedicated breaker — this is what K-Jay installs for almost every residential EV customer.

Level 3 (L3), also called DC fast charging, pushes high-voltage DC current (often 400–800 V at 50–350 kW) directly into the battery, bypassing the car's onboard AC-DC converter. That's how public fast chargers add 200+ km of range in 20 minutes. L3 hardware is commercial-scale, requires three-phase utility service, and isn't installed at residential properties.

PV (Photovoltaic) refers to the technology of converting sunlight into electricity using semiconductor cells, typically silicon. A PV module (solar panel) is an assembly of these cells. PV systems include the modules, racking, wiring, and inverter — everything needed to turn sunlight into usable AC power for your home.

A module is the industry term for what most people call a solar panel — a sealed, framed assembly of 60–144 photovoltaic cells. Residential modules typically produce 350–450 W under standard test conditions. Multiple modules are wired together into strings, then connected to an inverter that converts the DC output into household AC.

An inverter takes the direct current (DC) produced by solar modules and converts it to alternating current (AC) that matches your home's wiring and the utility grid. Two main types: string inverters (one central unit for the whole array, lower cost) and micro-inverters (one tiny inverter per module, panel-level optimization and monitoring). Inverters are the most active component in a solar system and the part most likely to need replacement during the array's lifetime — though Tier 1 micro-inverters now carry 25-year warranties.

A micro-inverter is a small inverter installed at each module instead of one large central inverter for the whole array. Benefits: shading on one panel doesn't drag down the rest of the string, you get per-panel monitoring through an app, and the whole array stays at safer low-voltage DC at the roof. Higher upfront cost than string inverters, but typically warranted for 25 years to match the modules.

Racking is the structural system that mounts solar modules to the roof or ground. It includes flashing (waterproof penetrations), L-brackets or feet that attach to rafters, aluminum rails that span between feet, and module clamps that hold panels to the rails. Good racking is engineered for local wind and snow loads, uses anodized aluminum and stainless hardware, and is the part of a solar install most likely to be done badly by inexperienced crews — bad racking causes roof leaks.

Micro-gen (Micro-Generation) is the framework in Alberta that allows residential and small commercial customers to install renewable generation up to 5 MW (effectively unlimited at the home scale) and export surplus power back to the grid. Your utility installs a bi-directional meter, you're credited for every kWh you export, and credits roll over month to month. This is what makes residential solar economical in Alberta.

MGR (Micro-Generation Regulation) is the formal name for Alberta's micro-generation rules under the Electric Utilities Act. It sets the framework for system sizing limits, interconnection standards, billing, and credit rollover. K-Jay handles the MGR application paperwork as part of every solar install — you sign one form, we file everything else with your utility (EPCOR for most Edmonton customers).

Energy usage is your annual electricity consumption measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh), the actual amount of power you used — not the total bill, which also includes delivery charges, transmission fees, riders, and taxes. We use the kWh figure from your last 12 months of bills to size a solar array, because that's what generation actually offsets. A typical Edmonton home uses 7,000–10,000 kWh per year.

The utility is the regulated company that owns and operates the distribution infrastructure delivering power to your home — the overhead lines or buried cables, the transformer on your block, and the meter on your house. In Edmonton that's EPCOR Distribution. The utility is separate from your retailer (who bills you for energy). For any project that touches the service entrance — solar tie-in, service upgrade, new connection — the utility has to approve and energize the work.

Service (or service ampacity) is the rated amperage your electrical service can deliver from the utility's transformer through the meter to your main panel. Common sizes are 100 A (typical older home), 200 A (most new builds), and 400 A (large custom homes or homes with heavy loads). The service size is set by the conductors from the utility, the meter base, and the main breaker — upgrading any one of them requires upgrading all of them, plus utility re-energization.