The power of the sun is always having an impact on your home. It can be overheating your attic in the heat of the summer or warming up your living room through the picture window on a cold winter day. With the right tools, it can also be lowering your electric bills.
Going Solar
If you are thinking about putting solar panels on your house, be aware that these useful tools can actually be a healthy supplement to your current power. You can use solar to cut back utility bills while still getting dependable power from the grid. Unless your intention is to go completely off grid, adding solar panels shouldn’t make a difference to your comfort or your access to power.
DIY Solar
Installing DIY solar panels on your home can save you a lot on your electric bills over time. There will be an initial investment for the following:
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solar panels and brackets
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charge controller
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batteries
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inverter
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wiring for all connections
It’s important to note that, while DIY solar installation can save you dollars, doing it wrong can be costly. It means crawling around on your roof, which may or may not be safe depending on your skill level. It means putting holes in your roof for the mounting brackets, which could leak if not properly sealed.
Handling electricity when you’re not fully qualified can be fatal. It can also burn your house down. A poorly functioning charge controller can destroy your batteries, and a faulty or poorly installed inverter can run direct current into an alternating current system, which is extremely dangerous to your family, home, and anything currently plugged in.
Take a Class
It’s important to know your limits. If you’re afraid to walk around on your roof because of poor balance or a lack of physical strength, you probably don’t want to be up there with solar panels in your hands. However, you may be able to hire someone for the mounting project and take a class or study videos to learn to wire the system.
Unless your intention is to go completely off grid, adding solar panels shouldn’t make a difference to your comfort or your access to power.
If you own the ground around your home and have the space, you can also create your own solar array in your backyard. A solar panel is a collection of photovoltaic cells; a solar array is a collection of solar panels. With a ground array, you won’t need to worry about roof mounts. There are also ways to mount panels on a ground array that you can tilt the panel over the course of the day for best solar power collection.
Adding solar power to your home either as your only source of power or as a supplement isn’t difficult and there are many kits on the market to make it less costly. However, it can be dangerous if you don’t have the skills to do it safely. Study up on the system you plan to install, take a class on the basics of installation, and be ready to hire out any part of the process you can’t manage safely.
