Your home provides ideal evidence of its suitability for solar panels. If you’re thinking about investing in solar panels, you should find out what you can expect from a solar energy system at your property. Several particular indicators are especially important in determining whether your home will be an adequately productive solar home. Below are the five most essential criteria for identifying a home that is a promising candidate for improvement by investing in home roof solar panels.
Is My House Suitable for Solar Panels?
Before investing in solar panels for house rooftop installation or choosing an alternative ground mount system, you should have an energy analysis by a solar expert. Your residential solar energy expert will determine your home’s potential as a solar energy-producing location.
Your Roof Faces in the Ideal Direction
The amount of direct sunlight your roof receives throughout the day depends on the direction your roof faces. A south-facing rooftop is ideal for solar panels. Roofs facing the east part of the day and west for the other part are less effective because they aren’t directly in the path of the sun’s location in the sky through most of the daylight hours.
A roof that faces all east doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from solar panels, but it is a factor in the efficiency you can expect your solar energy system to deliver. So, you should make sure you understand how it will impact your energy production on your property. Then, weigh that information in your decision about what type of mounting system to use, rooftop or ground mount solar panels, and where on your property is best to locate your panels.
Plenty of Direct Sunlight Falls On Your Roof
Even if your entire roof faces due south and would receive maximum sunlight all day under the right conditions, if it’s shaded by large trees, those are the wrong conditions. A heavily shaded roof is not a great location for solar panels. It can seriously reduce the potential for acceptable solar efficiency on your roof.
But, if your roof is ideally situated for maximum sunlight throughout the day and no buildings or trees block the sunlight from hitting the roof surface, then solar panels may be the ideal solution. With solar panels, you can live with security against power outages and exorbitant utility rate increases and reduce your heating and cooling bills and your carbon footprint.
Your Monthly Energy Bills are Too High
To start your research on the practicality of installing solar panels on your property, take a close look at your monthly home heating and cooling costs. If your bills are high, then it’s worth investing in solar panels.
$75-$80 is the average point at which solar savings occur. Add your monthly bills, then divide the yearly total by 12 to see how much your monthly average electricity cost is. If it’s more than $75-$80 monthly, your house may be an excellent location for solar energy production.
Your Area Has Low to Moderate Precipitation
Your region’s climate is a major determinant of your likely success in generating solar energy at an excellent value and ultimately realizing a strong ROI. Homes in areas with low to moderate amounts of annual precipitation have a better potential for strong solar energy production rates than areas with many more days without much sunshine.
If you live in an area with a relatively high number of sunshine days per year, you can expect your system to produce well. That is assuming the other necessary characteristics for good solar energy generation are present at your home. Areas with heavy snow cover through much of the year can block panels from performing unless you brush the snow off the panels. Talk to your local solar expert to find out if your location makes sense for solar panel installation and if so, where the panels should be located on your property for optimum results.
Your Roof is in Good Condition for Panel Installation
Your preferred roofing company or your solar installation company can give you a proper assessment of your roof condition for solar panel installation now. If an inspection reveals that your roof will need repair or replacement within the next several years, you are probably well advised to have that work done before installing solar panels and mounts. That will allow you to avoid paying to have your panels removed and then replaced after the roof repair or replacement work.
Solarise Can Evaluate Your Home’s Solar Suitability
Our solar expert will determine your roof’s and your property’s overall appropriateness for solar panel installation to help you in your decision to switch to solar energy for your home.
