Solar Installation: Converting Your Home Over To Solar Energy

Converting your home over to solar energy can be a great way to save money on high electric bills and help the planet is more environmentally friendly. Solar power uses the existing energy from the sun and converts it into usable energy through solar panels.

Solar panels turn direct sunlight into electrical current through the photovoltaic cells in the panels. The photovoltaic cells themselves are made up of crystalline silicone.

Solar panels have a long lifetime of about twenty years before they stop working effectively and need to be replaced. Since the life span is so long the placement needs to be done correctly because it will be there for a while and it might as well be as effective as possible.

If you have made the decision to go solar the next part of the process is to decide where you want the panels to go. Obviously you want the panels to go where they will generate the most power so you need to choose a location that factors in a variety of variables including the weather conditions and any obstructions of sunlight such as trees or buildings. Even the shadow from your homes chimney can affect the input of energy into blocked cells on the panel.

The solar panels will function best if they are positioned to receive direct sunlight and in climate that are very sunny such as Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California there are generally lots of sunny days for solar panels to draw from so placement is easier.

Although ideally the panels are placed for optimal orientation at true South (in Northern Hemispheres) and True North (in Southern Hemispheres) studies have shown that panels that can face up to a 90 degree angle east or west of this position their abilities to work at full capacity are not reduced that much.

The majority of panels are placed at an angel that is usually the same tilt as the roof they are placed on which can work if the mounting brackets allow the panels to tilt and follow the natural course of the sun.

The roof is the most common location to place panels but it isn’t the only location. Panels can also be put near southern facing walls in the northern hemisphere and placed near northern facing walls in the southern hemisphere and work very effectively.

When you buy your solar panels the company will be able to help guide you in selecting a contractor who is familiar with solar panel placement and they can also be a good source for help on placement information of your panels in your geographic area.