Residential Solar Panel Installation Services for Your Home

Before installing solar panels, you should ask if your roof is the right shape, type, orientation, direction and slope and whether it’s strong enough to support panels. You should also ask about local rebates and incentives, warranties, and how you can connect to the grid. More questions include determining your homeowners association (HOA) regulations, your home’s efficiency, how much energy you use, how much solar costs in your area and more.

You can tell if your house is suitable for solar panels by calculating your Sun Number Score, which represents your home’s solar power potential. Scores range between zero and 100, and a rating of 70 or higher means your house is suitable for solar panels. Your score takes various factors into account, such as the orientation of your home, regional climate, local electricity rates and cost of solar installations in your area. 

The biggest consideration when installing solar panels is your installation site. Because roofs are the most common place for installation, several factors determine whether your roof is suitable for solar panels. The type of roof you have and its shape, slope, orientation and direction are all top considerations.

Before going solar, you should know the average amount of energy your household requires daily. You should also know your home’s Sun Number Score. This information will help you determine whether your house is suitable for solar panels. You should also research the type of solar panels you need. High-efficiency solar panels will generate more energy on a daily basis, and you can store that energy in a home battery backup power if needed.

Before purchasing a solar panel system, you should consider a few factors. Efficiency, yield, warranty options, durability and aesthetics (which might involve your homeowners association [HOA]) are all major considerations. Freedom Solar offers SunPower solar panel systems, which are the highest-rated systems on the market.

The average home requires 21 to 34 solar panels to cover its full electricity needs. This range is based on the monthly average of 877 kWh used by homes, as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. However, all residential needs are different. The location of your home, the efficiency of your panels and how much energy your household consumes will determine how many solar panels you need.

The main advantages of solar energy include benefiting the environment and public health by reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality, saving money on your monthly utility bill, and reducing reliance on the grid to gain energy independence. Other advantages include increasing the resale value of your home from solar panels and avoiding rising energy costs through your utility.

Yes, theoretically. A modern solar panel system, including a battery for backup power storage, makes it possible for a house to run on solar power alone. If you have highly efficient solar panels and a premium battery, you can easily generate enough energy to power your home and daily needs.

Solar panels have an average life span of 25 to 30 years. Depending on how well you take care of your panels with periodic maintenance such as cleaning and inspections, they will likely last longer. However, their solar panel efficiency decreases by about 0.8% each year, which affects the amount of energy you can routinely generate.

The best way to calculate how many solar panels you need is to look up your home’s hourly energy requirement in kWh over a 30-day period. This will probably be on your monthly energy statements, or you can ask your utility to calculate it for you. Multiply that by the number of peak sunlight hours in your area, which you can easily search online since it differs depending on the time of year and where you live. Then, divide that number by the wattage of your panels, which is either low wattage (150W) or high wattage (360W).