Proper Installation of your Solar Panels

[admin]

Proper Installation of your Solar Panels

If you just purchased, or are considering purchase a Solar Electric System for your own because you would like to save hundreds of dollars a year on your annual and monthly electric bills, and would like to do something great for the environment at the same time. But, before you go and put that big Solar Array on your roof, you need to understand the principles of installing Solar Panels, so you can make the right choices about how and where to install them.

·Roof Space – Solar Arrays for Grid-Tie Solar Electric and Off-Grid Solar Electric Systems can be very large. An average sized system can take up hundreds of square feet of roof space, or more. When you are working with a Solar Company, they should tell you how much roof space you will need for your Solar Electric System.
·Direction of Installation – In the northern hemisphere, Solar Panels should always be installed pointing towards true south (or 0 degrees). This is, however, not the same as magnetic south (or the south that your compass shows you). This difference between magnetic south and true south is called the Azimuth. Depending on the longitude of your location (direction East and West) determines your Azimuth. Azimuth is different from location to location, and you should align your Solar Panels on the Azimuth for optimum performance.
·Angle of Installation – You need to install you solar panels at the right angle in order to ensure that they perform with the highest possible efficiency and deliver the highest returns on investment and the shortest payback period possible. The optimum installation angle for your Solar Panels is your latitude (your position North-South) plus 15 degrees. For instance, say you live at 30 degrees North Latitude, you Solar Panels should be installed at 45 degrees – 30 degrees plus 15 degrees.
·Mounting Hardware Type – there are several different types of mounting hardware you can use to install your Solar Panels. The four main types of Solar Panel Mounting Hardware are Roof Flush Mount, which mounts your solar panels flush to your roof, keeping them low profile and unobtrusive; Roof/Ground Tilt Mounts, which mount your solar panels on the ground, or the roof at a tilted angle (in case your roof is lower than the optimum angle for installation of your Solar Panels); and Side of Pole and Top of Pole Mounting Hardware.

If you are considering an off-grid or grid-tie Solar Electric System, you need to address of the above questions about installing your Solar Panels. Silicon Solar, an Upstate New York Solar Energy Company has a dedicated team of sales and support staff that are trained to assist you in answering all of these questions, and hundreds of others involving you new Solar Electric System. The also sell a complete line of Off-Grid Solar Electric Systems and Grid-Tie Solar Electric Systems. They can be found at www.siliconsolar.com.