With the popularity of using solar panels on the rise and the time left to claim government rebates for doing so quickly running out, you may be wondering what things you need to know before installing solar panels on your residential roofing. We have here two lists we think you will find helpful for this task.
Things You Need to Know Before Installing Solar Panels
- For each 1,500 square feet of your home (the size of the average home), just 16 solar panels will cover your electrical costs.
- Solar panels work as part of a system and though you can purchase a single solar panel to up the capacity of your system later (again with the magic number of $100), the purchase of one panel will not a system make.
- Solar power systems require panels, hardware, wiring to carry electrical energy, an inverter to convert that energy to usable energy (which gets sent to the power grid you are connected to in your community), and of course, just like everything these days, computer software to monitor and control the system.
Things You Need to Know Before Installing Solar Panels: Some Myths
- “It’s too expensive.” Actually, the typical solar array loan payment is less than the average month’s electrical bill. And you usually save money through rebates from your electrical company.
- “Solar is for primary homeowners only.” Though a system can increase a property’s value for an individual homeowner, there are community solar programs that allow for multiple residences within a building to operate from the same shared solar panel system.
- “Solar only works in places that are sunny all of the time.” Nope. Panels only need a few hours of sunlight a day to generate the needed amount of power for your home. The amount of energy (kWh) they produce will vary by season though according to the angle of the sun. This means that in North America it is ideal to face panels to the south for optimum efficiency.
If you have any questions about installing solar panels on your residential roofing, call us! We’re always happy to hear from you.