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5 Factors to Consider Before Installing Solar Panels

Residential Solar PV System

The advantages of solar panels are appealing for most homeowners because they help to save money on utility bills, improve the value of your home, and reduce your carbon footprint.

Advantages of Solar Panels

While most people benefit from installing solar panels on their roof, there are some other factors that can impact how much energy your solar system will generate.

Therefore, you must consider the following factors to help you estimate the saving potential and energy generation of your residential solar panel system.

1. The Cost

That’s the first factor to consider as soon as you conceive the idea of installing solar panels. The cost depends on the quality of the solar panel you choose and the contractor you hire. It’s good to stick to your budget, but a quality system will serve you well for a long time. A good solar panel installer will not charge you more than necessary, so you can opt for solar power Cape Town.

2. Your Roof Layout, Condition, and Material

One of the best things about a solar system is its durability.

Most solar energy systems can generate clean energy for at least three decades or even more. Therefore, your roof has to be in excellent condition before installing a residential solar panel system.

Asphalt roofs usually last around twenty years, and it can be costly and challenging to reinstall the panels after repairing your roof. So before installing your array, repair the damaged roof or replace it if needed.

Moreover, you should also consider your roof’s material, layouts, and direction.

Some solar power companies may charge an extra fee to install the panels on flat, concrete, or ceramic tile roofs due to more involved installation efforts.

Lastly, you’ll require an unobstructed roof space for your panels. The exact cost to install solar panels depends on the number and the type of solar panels you choose to install.

3. Location of Your House

The more sunlight your panels receive, the more energy they’ll generate.

If you live in an area where there is barely any sunshine during the day, you cannot take full advantage of your solar panel system. So before installing a residential solar PV system, make sure that your area receives enough sunlight every day.

If you live in a state where the weather is mostly rainy and cloudy, it will not be worth the investment.

Besides the geographic location, you should also consider your home’s orientation. The roofs facing south, southeast, and southwest will produce more energy compared to the roofs facing north in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the Southern Hemisphere the situation is exactly the opposite.

No tall and opaque objects such as satellite dishes or trees should cast shadows on your roof because this way you will generate less power.

4. How to Choose the Panels

Traditional, roof-mounted panels are more popular, but you may have to consider the ground-mounted array of solar modules. These panels can be installed anywhere on a piece of land you own, if your roof has a bad orientation.

Installing the panels in the yard or on any surface of land you own is usually an option when you have a roof that faces north in the Northern Hemisphere, or south in the Southern Hemisphere, or the surface allocated for solar panels is too small.

However, ground-mounted panels can be easily shadowed and require more labor and materials which make them more expensive.

You can also get your panels mounted with a tracker that follows the path of the Sun. This tracker will help the panels to follow the Sun and generate more power during the day.

However, adding a tracker to your solar installation will increase the investment even more.
Always consider installing quality panels with higher efficiency to produce more energy for your home.

5. The Amount of Energy You Need

Another major factor to consider before installing a solar PV system is the amount of energy your system will produce. A single panel can generate between 5 Watts to 250 Watts and even more.

Conclusion

You can use a 250 W solar panel as reference to count the number of panels you require to meet your energy demand at home. Don’t forget that the quality of the panels is also important if you have a limited area on your roof.

You can generate more power on a reduced surface on your roof by installing quality solar panels with higher efficiency.

Article written by:

I am a writer and reporter for the clean energy sector, I cover climate change issues, new clean technologies, sustainability and green cars. Danny Ovy

1 Comment

  1. Afton Jackson

    When you mentioned the location of the house as an important factor for solar power, I was reminded of my brother who put up his newest house construction project in a particularly sunny part of the country.

    With how long he plans to live there, it might benefit him a lot if we can outfit that house with a lot of energy-efficient options. Solar panels seem to be the perfect choice for this purpose, so I’ll look for any services that can install some PV panels for him.

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