Solar PV System Planning
To get a Solar PV system installed, it is important to understand the various components and factors that are in play.
Given the size of the investment, it is absolutely crucial to know everything about the product and its specifics, so better decisions can be made when it comes to making purchases.
1. HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE?
The ideal payback period for your rooftop solar will be 5-7 years. While you will see an immediate reduction of your electric bills, panels themselves and their installation won’t be cheap and hence the total costs will sum up to quite an amount. If this is a long term investment, then it is worth the amount invested, but if you are a type of person who is always changing location better think about other ways on how to decrease energy consumption e.g. switch light bulbs in your house to LED ones, use more efficient, less energy-consuming appliances.
2. AMOUNT OF ENERGY NEEDED TO POWER YOUR HOUSE.
Every household consumes a different amount of energy depending on the number of appliances used, number of people staying etc. For lesser consumption of energy you will need to buy fewer panels and hence it is very important to know average electricity consumption of your household while assesing how many panels will be sufficient to provide the whole house with electricity.
The size of a system depends on two factors:
- insulation;
- amount of energy that is needed.
It is a simple calculation. Check your electricity bill and calculate how many kilowatts of energy you use on an average day and multiply that by .25 to find out how large system approximately is required to produce energy enough for your house.
5. LOCATION.
The amount of direct sunlight is a very crucial factor that will assess the number and type of panels you should use. Of course, the main factor that impacts this is the region you live in, but tall buildings and trees can also seriously affect your panel’s sun exposure. Panels are sensitive to shadow – some reduce the output while some shut down entirely. The more hours your panels will be exposed to full sunlight, the more efficiently energy will be produced.
3. ROOF TYPE
Every house have different types of roofs, some of them are not suitable for quick installation of solar panels.
Nevertheless, solar panels can be installed on nearly every type of roof, it is just that for some cases it might require a bit more effort and extra costs. Some companies are installing solar panels only on composite shingled rooftops, refusing to work with Spanish tiles. If you happen to have a roof with Spanish tiles or regular wood shingles, you will need to find a solar panel expert who is experienced and skilled enough to work with different types of roofs as well.
4. COST RANGE.
Since the market and manufacturers of solar panels are expanding every year, it indeed can be very confusing to understand which of the panels are really good, yet not overpriced. Given that the price of solar panels has dropped 70 per cent in the past few years and this tendency is quite constant. Add federal and local tax credits and subsidies to your panel price, that will be that extra you will have to invest as up-front costs.
7. PERMITS.
Before installing your solar panels, read all the relevant information about building permits. Without having a proper building permit you will be fined and asked to completely re-do the whole system. Building permits are issued at a local level and therefore it is important to make sure these rules are followed.
8. CHOOSING THE RIGHT COMPANY
Look for the professionals who can offer you strong warranties (at least 10 years), are licensed and bonded. A good way to know this is recent customer references.
Design the optimum solar panel system for your home with the solar design tool from our suppliers. Some of the best in the industry include, SMA SUNNY Design WEB, the SolarEdge SITE DESIGNER, the Fonius Solar.Configurator and Tehe K2 System Roof tool.