One of the important factors when investing in solar panels is how they will work with your roof. This can be straightforward, or it can be a bit more complicated depending on your roof’s size, shape, angle, and stability.
Simple or Complex Roof
The shape and design of a complex roof will leave you at a slight disadvantage. Though it is possible to install solar panels on complex roofs, it is going to cost more. The solar panels need to be facing the same direction, installed perfectly to harvest as much of the sun’s rays as possible. A solar panel installation on a roof like the complex roof will require elaborate mounting kits, which will take longer to install, costing you more for labour and materials.
Roof Direction
To have a productive array, your solar panels will need to face the sun all day. If your roof is not directly sun-facing, you can still benefit from solar panels. For these homes, I suggest having 2 separate arrays. One to harvest solar in the mornings and one to harvest solar in the afternoons. Whatever the issue, a solar installer will be able to give you some suggestions.
Roof Material
In South Africa, most houses have tiled, pitched roofs. However, there are a few other types, like metal or thatched roofs. Tiled and corrugated roofs are perfect for installing solar panels, but thatched roofs are highly flammable, and it is seriously dangerous to have solar panels installed. We have many flat roofs here in South Africa, too, which can support solar panels. However, you will need specialist structures to install your panels on to be angled perfectly.
The Amount of Shade Covering the Roof
Solar panels produce power by using the sun’s rays, so any shading will not be helpful at all. You will need to ensure that your roof has little to no shading from chimneys, trees and other buildings. Trees can be trimmed back, and optimisers can be used to help in minor shading situations. If there’s a way you can get around the shading problem, your solar installer will be able to help you come up with a solution.
Age And Support
It might not be easy to hear, but your roof has a time limit, and with this time limit comes a level of support it can provide to the solar array. Once again, you want to contact an expert in this area and take a more in-depth look at your roof’s condition. There is a multitude of variables that go into installing panels. The good news is that there’s usually a way around, most common problems.
Panels
cannot work independently; they need other components to work as a complete
system.
You will also need
the following:
Solar Inverter
The inverter plays a vital role within every solar system, converting the DC power to AC power. Your panels produce DC power, and your batteries store DC power. You need the inverter to be able to use the generated and stored energy in your home. Most plug-and-play inverters come with an MPPT installed inside the battery, making installation quick and easy.
Solar Batteries
Batteries are an optional component. You are essentially using power on demand; this means they only use solar energy when the sun is shining. Due to our ongoing load shedding dilemma in South Africa, most clients buy batteries for their systems. If you spend most of your day at work and use most energy at night, batteries just make sense.
How Many Panels Can you Fit?
Your personal needs will determine what size solar panel will suit you. If you have little space for panels, you will need a higher power rating panel, like a 400W panel. But, if you have a lot of space, then you can look at having more lower power rating panels. However, it’s worth a mention that should you wish to add more solar panels at a later stage, the larger panels will be the better choice due to availability, later on. .
New Technology
Solar Panel sizes are changing all the time for bigger and better panels. For instance, the panels we now sell are vastly bigger in rating than the panels we were selling between 2 and 3 years ago. Naturally, with the betterment of solar panel technology, obsolete tech has now been abandoned. Therefore, making it near impossible to find those 180W panels you bought back in 2018.
Adding to an Old Array
Voltage plays a huge role in being able to add to your array. Absolutely any panel with more than a 5V difference will simply not work and will cause you a lot of frustration. Additionally, it is important to say that your adding larger panels to an array that contains smaller panels will see your new panels performing as well as the old panels. However, if you have an inverter with multiple MPPTs and have an MPPT available, you can add whatever panel you’d like.
For First Time Buyers
In conclusion, when choosing panels for a new setup, our advice would be to ensure you choose the biggest size panel that your inverter will allow. Moreover, if you want to maximise your array later, do it within 6-12 months after buying your current setup. Because there are no guarantees that the size panel you want will be available.