5 Things to Keep in Mind When Building a Solar Panel Home

With possible tax cuts and little maintenance required, saving the environment and energy may be easier than we thought. If you're looking to jump on the go green bandwagon and install solar panels in your home, be sure to check out these five considerations.

• Cost – Be sure to be mindful of the expense when choosing the right solar panels for your home. Years ago, solar panels got a bad reputation for being overly expensive and out of reach for many families who believed in the cause. Today, a household can pay about $10 per professionally installed watt, so a 7.5kW array can cost up to $75,000. But certain state governments are in full support of solar panel electricity and have issued tax cuts for families who install the systems. For example, New Jersey will give back $12,500 and the federal government will give $11,000 for a $50,000 solar panel, bringing down the total price to $26,500.
• Maintenance – The idea of changing the traditional home powering systems can spark anxiety about how to maintain such a new structure, but turns out solar panel systems are much easier to handle than expected. Once solar panels are installed, the only care it needs is cleaning here and there. Dust can affect the amount of energy a panel provides by decreasing it by 7% if they are not washed down. This wash down can happen from a hose on the ground level quarterly throughout the year to guarantee maximum energy.
• Surroundings – For solar panels to reach their ultimate capability, they need to have accurate surroundings. Low trees, too much shade, and nearby buildings will affect the amount of energy a panel can give off. This is a major point to keep in mind for solar panel installation. Trees that can be trimmed down doesn't pose as much of a threat as a building shielding the sun for part of the day.
• Insolation – Insolation is the amount of sunshine that the ground absorbs in a given period of the day. Solar panels will generate more energy in areas where there is a higher insolation rate like in Phoenix, AZ, which gets 6.58 kWh. These areas will get more energy for their panels than places like Portland, ME, which only gets 4.51 kWh of insolation. In Maine, there is going to have to be more solar panels than in Phoenix to produce the same amount of power for a household.
• Coverage – A solar panel powers a home with the strength of the sun rather than the size of the panel. Therefore, it's suggested that a professional come in and measure the amount of sun coming into the area and how much power the household uses a day. The average family uses about 30 kWh a day, requiring a 7.5 kW solar panel system. A smaller system would be for a household that does not use as much power per each day and who have a high insolation rate like in Phoenix.

To learn more about solar power technology and to browse products, visit Mouser’s Solar Power Technology applications page.  

Story via  How Stuff Works.

By Emily Bahr