Lets talk about Grid-tied solar panel systems. The majority of today’s solar power systems do not required a lot of maintenance. Residential solar panels usually only require cleaning a couple of times a year. Serious solar manufacturers ship 20- or 25-year warranties with their solar panels. Technological advancements are constantly being made in the solar power industry. Innovation in nanotechnology and quantum physics has the potential to triple the electrical output of solar panels.
Energy storage systems such as batteries will help smoothen out demand and load, making solar power more stable, but these technologies are also expensive. Luckily, there’s a good correspondence between our access to solar energy and human energy demand. Our electricity demand peaks in the middle of the day, which also happens to be the same time there’s a lot of sunlight!
The level of solar irradiation that falls upon the earth varies with the geography of the planet. Generally, the closer to the equator the more solar energy but what most don’t realize is that solar energy can be used anywhere. For example, in the sunniest parts of America a solar system will produce on average 4.7 kWh of power per 1 kilowatt of solar panels but in the least sunny areas, such as the mountains and north east, it wills till produce 2.9 kilowatt hours per kilowatt, per day. So although some areas are better than others for solar power it is still viable in almost all locations.
Solar panels (also known as photovoltaic panels) are installed on your home. The solar panels convert light (photons) into electricity (voltage). Each panel is connected to a microinverter that changes the electric current from DC (direct current) to AC (alternating current). Each microinverter operates independently of the others so that if one stops working your system is still generating maximum power. The microinverters are also connected to a communication hub that is connected to the internet. Information is sent to our monitoring system that allows us, and you, to know when one of your microinverters is not working properly. The software allows you to see how much energy you are generating and how much you are using.
The typical solar panel installation takes one to three days. Obviously, larger systems will take a little longer. After the solar panels are installed the utility company will come out to change out the electric meter. Depending upon the utility company, it can take one to three months for the utility company to do their part and turn on the solar energy system.
There are a few factors that go into pricing a solar panel installation. At SunKey, we offer three types of panels and two types of inverters. This equates to five different system designs, each of which has a different cost associated with it. Next, we need to take into account the size of your home and roof space, the accessibility and slope of your roof, whether you want an off-grid or grid-tied system, and whether your electrical panel requires any upgrades prior to installing the solar panel system. Read more details at Grid-tied solar panel systems.