Home Solar Power Systems Background

Ability is to perceive, decide and take action. Before you decide to install a residential solar power system, you better get the vital background. You do not need to become an expert, you need to know enough to discuss intelligently with a solar contractor and ask the right questions.

After the system is installed it is not maintenance free. Although the system requires very minimal maintenance, it still requires some maintenance. Invaluable is to add a monitor that can communicate to your PC that will tell you the vital performance statistics of the system.

After 20 years or more in service it will be the time for the system to retire, learn about recycling of solar power systems

Spend some time to educate yourself on the subject of solar power systems. Home Solar Systems are basically energy converters. Sun radiation pounds the solar electric panels; the solar panels convert the Sun radiation (stream of photons) to DC electrical power (stream of electrons). Start with the basics:

1. What is the electrical energy consumption of your household in KW-h? (you can deduct it from your electric bills, and if your home is off-grid you can calculate the combined electricity consumption of the appliances, lighting, coolers and heaters
2. Decide what proportion of the consumption you want the system to generate. Off grid homes must generate all their consumption. Grid connected homes can have a mix of self produced electricity and utility supplied electricity.
3. Divide the amount of electricity that you want to produce every month by 180 (6 hours of effective daylight in one day times 30 days). Numeric example: if you want to generate 540 KW-h every month, you will need production capacity of 540 divided by 180 = 3 k Watt (3000 watts)
4. Calculate the panels area; typical panels has about 15% efficiency, and will produce 150 Watts per 1 square meter. The panels will need 3000 divided by 150 = 20 square meters (215 square foot).
5. The price of the system can be in the range of $12,000 to $20,000 for a turnkey job, the federal energy tax rebate is 30%, many states and utilities will give you addition tax credits. In California as much as 45% of the cost can be covered by tax incentives.
6. If you have enough roof area facing South or South-East, and enough money (home equity loans are available to fund clean energy generators) - bingo. You can go on your home solar power system.

It is tempting to listen to the "make it yourself" sales pitch. There is no real value and it might even be a hazard to use handmade solar panels in a dwelling environment.

As for second hand panels that were in service (exposed to the sun) it is a sure bet they have lost some of their generation capability (0.5%-1% for every year in service) and that their life span is shorter.

Only new solar panels and equipment are eligible to the Federal energy tax credit, and in some states such as California the system must be installed by a certified solar contractor.

For off the grid home solar systems, make sure the electrical installation (wiring, grounding, circuit breakers etc.) is done and tested by a certified electrician. Since the system won't be tested by a utility, the certified electrician is the homeowner safeguard. Avoid the risk involved with certified high voltages and high currents systems that are not certified.

Make sure to clean the solar panels and remove dust and debris. Inspect the integrity of power lines, circuit breakers and grounding. Monitor the power production - watch for any drop in the normal power output.

As solar panels moves into the public focus, green movements already pushing to oblige the manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling. Manufacturers are willing to recycle because end of life panels still has value and they can be used to make new solar panels. So, if you look into the future, find out what are the recycling provisions.

Solar power generators are a great solution for many homes and installing a residential solar power system is an excellent proposition for many homeowners.

There are however a few limitations that needs to be taken into account that a perspective homeowner needs to be aware to. The first one is a relatively high price. Although the prices dropped by a factor of 2 or even 3 during 2009 and 2010, the price of a typical 3 kW system is still comparable to the price of a family car.

The second limitation is that solar power generators produce electricity only during day time. For an house that is connected to the grid it is not a big deal, the night time consumption is supplied by the utility and in most regions the homeowner can sell the daylight time surplus electricity back to the utility. In Europe, the price paid by the utility for the surplus electricity is bigger than the price the customer pay to the utility. The situation is different for a off-grid home, the only known way to store electricity for a small household is to use deep cycle batteries. Batteries are expensive, they need to be replaced every 5 to 7 years, they are not maintenance free and they can not be co-located with people or livestock. A good advice to an off-grid homeowner, if he installs a solar system is to add also a wind turbine (if he has at least one acre land)