A solar power system can reduce your home’s reliance on the local electricity grid, while significantly reducing monthly energy expenses. To get the best performance, it’s important to mount solar panels the right way. Remember, solar panels are relatively expensive and any damage caused to them during installation can completely ruin your project.
Here are some techniques your solar energy professional will use when mounting solar panels on your roof.
- Decide on location: Carefully consider where you want the newly installed solar panels to be placed on your roof. Put them in a spot that will consistently receive lots of sunshine. Don’t install them near vents, chimneys, satellite dishes, antennas, or other features that may need to be accessed by a repair technician later. Plan for expansion if it’s likely you may be installing more solar panels in the future.
- Determine roof strength: Your roof will need to be strong enough to handle the weight of one or more solar panels. A solar panel typically weighs up to five pounds. A single solar panel shouldn’t cause much problem, but multiple panels could weigh more than your roof can handle.
- Install in the right direction: Solar panels should face the south if installed on a home in North America. This way, your panels can take full advantage of the sun’s travel path (or, more accurately, the direction of the Earth’s rotation) to gain the most sunlight exposure possible.
- Install with the right tilt: Solar panels require a tilt that’s equal to the latitude of the area where they’re installed. This allows sunlight to hit the panels at an angle as close to 90 degrees as possible, which is the most effective angle for sunlight exposure.
Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning has been serving HVAC customers in the greater Fresno area for almost 40 years. Contact us today for more information about how to mount solar panels for the best performance in your home.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Fresno, California area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about solar panels and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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