Things You Need to Know About Solar Power

There is some planning that is involved in converting your home into a primary source of solar power. These transformations of your home can cost a good deal of money up front but can save you a ton of money on the back end.

The first thing you want to do is to calculate the amount of electricity that is required for your home to function daily. If you are not doing a full conversion but yet just a partial, just calculate the percentage based on a portion of the daily electricity.

Most utility bills can be easy to calculate cause most of them will show you exactly how much are using for not only the month you are in but also the month past in that year. If you plan on completely eliminating your utilities company than you need to do your calculations based on the peak demand.

Figuring out how much electricity is required for you home on a monthly or yearly basis is easy and takes rather simple arithmetic. Based on the amount of peak electricity used will allow you figure out how many PV modules you will need. Just take the area of the south-facing rooftop section of your home to the number and size of the PV modules needed.

Each module will generate a certain amount of power at a given cost. When connected the right way the modules add up, so finding the total output (and cost) is equally easy. For a modest-sized home, the cost of panels is somewhere around $10,000-$16,000 at current prices. But keep in mind when planning the expense that there are tax rebates and other programs that will help you offset the amount invested.

But the modules have to connect to something. The connectors, clamps, wires and other components add to the total. They vary considerably. And don’t forget to add installation costs. Most homeowners don’t have the skill to build the system themselves.

The sun doesn’t shine all day every day. It’s dark at night, obviously. Rain and heavy cloud cover will reduce the amount of insulation, as it’s called. Other uncontrollable factors reduce the amount of sunlight available. So, almost anyone going ‘off grid’ will want a battery storage system. Those not taking the complete plunge can draw power from the local utility company during those times.

If your system generates more than you need at any given time, some utility companies will enter into an agreement to buy any excess you put into their system. That’s usually done technically by running your meter backwards when you’re supplying the utility company. It normally runs forward as you draw power from their system.

Naturally, they’ll insist on inspecting your system before finalizing any agreement. In fact, most municipalities will require that you have your system inspected and approved even if you go entirely off grid. They need to ensure that it’s implemented in a way that’s safe for local lineman. During power outages they have to assume there’s no power running through the lines. Your system has to be installed in a way that guarantees that.

Between panels, batteries, installation costs and other expenses most modest-sized solar panel systems will cost in the neighborhood of $32,000-$50,000. That cost should be offset against what you would pay for electricity from the power company over the lifetime of the system, usually about 20 years without substantial replacements.

But costs are coming down and efficiency is improving as time goes on, as the price of electricity continues to rise. It may well be worth your while to have a solar powered electrical system for your home.