As the solar industry continues to grow, more and more people are considering installing solar panels on their properties, but does every property need to have solar panels installed and what are the factors that need to be taken into consideration before installing solar panels on a property. The installation of solar panels is a substantial investment and all possible influences need to be ranked before making a decision to install them.
1. Is installing solar panels worth it?
For most property owners, installing solar panels is a worthwhile investment. This is because installing solar panels on a property can save money on your home’s electricity bills, and as the cost of energy continues to rise, so does the cost of using electricity from the grid. In the face of high electricity bills, it is clearly a wise choice to consider using solar panels to generate electricity.
Secondly, properties with solar panels are likely to have a better market when it comes to secondary sales, as the installation of solar panels will add about ten percent to the value of the property.
Solar panels are an environmentally friendly way of generating electricity as they do not burn fossil fuels and do not produce greenhouse gases. Using solar panels to generate electricity reduces energy consumption, carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, helping you to live in an environmentally sustainable way.
2. What is not suitable for installing solar panels?
2.1 Roof conditions are not suitable for installing solar panels
Generally, solar panels for homes are installed on the roof. Therefore, before installing solar panels, your roof needs to be examined: whether it can collect enough solar energy and whether it can be used for installing solar panels.
The first thing we need to know is that not every kind of roof is suitable for installing solar panels; the orientation, slope, size, and shape of the roof may affect the installation of solar panels.
Although solar panels can be exposed to the sun’s rays at certain times of the day regardless of their orientation, the output efficiency of solar panels installed facing west or east will be low compared to those facing south, and if your roof is facing north, its power generation efficiency will be too low to be suitable for installing solar panels. Secondly, the slope of your roof can also affect the efficiency of your solar panels. If your roof has too much slope, this means that these steep roofs can cause a lot of unnecessary hassle for the installation of solar panels, and you may need to pay for more labor costs or additional fixtures. What’s more, this excessive angle will result in less direct sunlight hitting the panels, making them less efficient if installed on too steep a slope.
The size of the roof can also affect the installation of solar panels; if the roof space is too small, it may make the installed solar panels unable to meet the home’s power needs. It is worth noting that, regardless of the number of installed blocks, the number of other components required to be equipped with a certain number, which means that the installation of photovoltaic panels installed in too few blocks may reduce the cost-effectiveness of the installation.
2.2 House surroundings
Generally speaking, the household solar panels will be installed on the roof, but for a small portion of the roof space is smaller or more complex structure is not suitable for the installation of solar panels, you can try to install solar panels on the ground in the yard. However, for this type of installation, a larger, more open space is needed, because each solar panel needs to maintain a certain tilt angle at the same time, do not block each other to ensure maximum power generation efficiency.
It’s important to note that whether you’re installing on a roof or on the ground in your yard, you’ll need to take into account shading from surrounding buildings and plants, which can significantly reduce the efficiency of your solar panels.
Secondly, we need to know that solar panels rely on collecting energy from particles within the sun’s rays to generate electricity. So even in cold climates, solar panels can still be used because they rely on sunlight exposure rather than heat.
Therefore, before determining whether your property is suitable for solar panels, it is also important to consider the ambient climate in the vicinity of your property and whether it has more than enough light. For example, in areas close to the Arctic Circle or in areas where the dimensions are too high, even if solar panels are installed, they will not generate electricity as efficiently. In addition, part of the peak sunshine time is shorter in the region is also not suitable for the installation of solar panels, to maintain a certain power generation efficiency, the peak sunshine time of the place should be at least 3 hours or more.
2.3 The location of the lower cost of electricity
Solar panels produce electricity can be supplied directly to the householders, without the need to buy electricity from the power company. How much return it can bring later mainly lies in how much the family can save electricity expenses, but if you are located in the low cost of electricity, only a few hundred dollars a year to pay the electricity bill, then tens of thousands of dollars of investment in the next few decades will not bring worthwhile returns, and with the growth of solar panels use time, the efficiency of its power generation will gradually decline, a comprehensive view, will not give the family In summary, it will not save the family more electricity expenses, and will even make it more difficult to recover the initial investment costs. On the contrary, in the case of cheaper local electricity, you can consider using solar power in other ways, such as using community solar farms or solar farms built by energy companies, which can also save a certain amount of money compared to purchasing electricity directly.
2.4 Renting or planning to sell your home
Due to the high upfront cost of installing solar panels, it will take at least ten years for a moderate-use household to recoup the upfront cost. If you rent your home or plan to sell your home in a few years, installing solar panels may not be worth it.
While installing solar panels can increase the value of your home when it comes time to re-sell, the added value won’t recoup the cost of installing solar panels compared to the higher upfront costs. And if your solar panels were acquired through a lease or power purchase contract with an energy company, this type of home can be more difficult to sell because buyers don’t want to pay for the contract at the same time as they pay for the property, and transferring the lease or power purchase contract can be tricky. In summary, it is not worth installing solar panels on properties that are being considered for sale in the near future.
2.5 Inability to cover upfront investment costs
Although installing solar panels can pay you back more than the upfront cost in the long run, the upfront investment required to install solar panels is still high for most households. A set of solar panels for a home can sell for nearly $10,000, not a small expense for the average family. If your home has a larger property and uses more electricity, this may further increase the upfront investment cost of installing solar panels.
3. For homes that meet the above criteria of not being worth installing, what can be done to generate solar power?
3.1 By leasing panels at a power plant or directly purchasing electricity produced by a solar power plant
With the popularity of solar power, more and more energy companies have begun to build solar farms, able to reduce their own power generation costs at the same time to meet the user’s choice of solar power generation methods. Whether it’s a utility-scale or community-scale solar farm, solar panels are generally available for lease. You don’t need to consider whether your property is suitable for solar panel installation, the farm will choose the most suitable land for you to install, and you can directly use the panels in the farm to provide you with electricity. This may also be a suitable option for some homeowners who do not want to install solar panels on their roof.
In addition to renting solar panels from a solar farm, it is also a good option to purchase electricity directly from the solar farm. The electricity produced by the solar farm will power your property through the mains grid, which is the same as purchasing electricity, but at a discounted price, which is a good option for those who are unable to install solar panels, or for short-term tenants of a property. option.
3.2 Obtaining solar panels through solar financing
In addition to the hard impacts of house orientation and environment, the high upfront investment also prevents most homeowners from installing solar panels. For homeowners who want to install solar panels but don’t have enough money to purchase them on their own, solar financing may be an option. These solar financing programs will install solar panels on your property, but you will still be required to pay a fee for them under a signed lease and power purchase agreement. This option may only be available to homeowners who want to have solar panels but cannot afford to pay the higher cost all at once. It is worth noting that after acquiring solar panels through solar financing, purchasing solar panels again will disqualify you from the government rebate mechanism.
To summarize:
If you wish to enjoy the convenience of electricity in a more environmentally friendly way or experience the later rewards of installing solar panels, then opting for a solar system may be a good idea. It is worth noting, however, that installing solar panels can be costly and there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with generating electricity in this way. So there are a number of other factors that need to be considered before installing them.
