Recently, more homeowners are opting for the installation of solar power systems (also known as the solar panel system) in their homes. Unlike in the past decades when there was much dependence on primary sources of energy like coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy as the major source of electricity. Technology has evolved in recent years with even better alternatives and one of these alternatives is solar power systems.
The solar power system offers an excellent way of harnessing solar energy and then transforming it into electrical energy, which we use mostly at home. There are different benefits of installing the solar panel kit for home and one of such benefits is that it saves you enormously on your power bills.
Harnessing solar energy seems to be the future of energy in the few years to come as it has witnessed much growth across different regions of the world such as China, Europe, North America, and even India. Some regions such as Africa and Nigeria, in particular, are yet to embrace fully this innovative approach to generate energy for use in the home.
The idea behind the use of the solar panel system is that homes reduce their cost of energy, save more, and maximize their carbon footprint as well. Personally, I would say there is no better way of generating efficient energy for your home than the use of the solar panel system.
What is a solar power system?
The solar power system consists of the solar panel kit which is mounted on the roof of a building. It traps the energy-packed photons from the sunlight and converts them into a usable form of energy. They are also simply referred to as “PV”.
When you install the solar panel kit for home. You have done a great job of reducing your dependence on the local community power grid. This means you can now utilize the solar panel kit to generate the electricity needed to light, cool, heat, and operate your home.
The summary is that you will get a clean, renewable source of energy, which requires little or no maintenance. Also, you will get the profits from this investment over a span of a few years. Some solar systems come with as much as 25 years warranty and this means you get free energy for more than 2 decades.
What constitutes the solar panel kit for the home?
You need to understand that the solar power system consists of different components, which are coupled to generate electricity. These components will cause the conversion of power into alternating current. Which can be used for powering home appliances, maintaining safety at home, and even storing excess energy.
Here the very important components of the solar power system.
Solar Panels
These very significant components are noticeable in the solar panel kit for the home. They are typically installed on the roof where they can have easy access to the sunlight converting it into electrical energy via the photovoltaic effect. This is how it got its alternative name, “PV panels”.
Solar panel outputs are rated in Watts and delivers between 10 to 300watts per panel. There are majorly two types of solar panels that are ideal for residential home installation- the monocrystalline and the polycrystalline. While both are well suitable for the home, the monocrystalline panel is a bit more efficient and expensive than later.
Solar Inverter
Solar inverters offer a means of converting the Direct Currents generated by the solar panels into the Alternating Current required in powering the home. They are of three types- micro-inverters, centralized or string inverters, and power optimizers.
Just by discussing what you want and of course, assessing your home. I would tell you the ideal type to install in your home.
Solar Array Mounting Racks
Solar panels are coupled into arrays and then mounted either on the roof, directly into the ground, or on poles. It is more common to come across roof-mounted systems as this seems to be more efficient and better aesthetically. If the roof is too high, there might be an issue with maintenance here.
However, you do not have to worry much about that, as panels don’t usually require much maintenance.
If you prefer your panels mounted on a freestanding pole, that is still okay. I could do the installation such that its height cant affect the maintenance if the need arises. Remember that mounting an array on the ground isn’t ideal for areas that accumulate snow regularly.
Mounts are either tracking or fixed irrespective of where you mount the arrays. Tracking arrays move to adjust their angles as the sun moves.
Array DC Disconnect
This device comes into play when you want to run maintenance on the solar arrays. The solar arrays produce DC power and with the array DC disconnect, you can get it disconnected from the home.
Solar Performance Monitor
The monitoring system functions to verify the performance of your home solar system. While the system shows you how much electricity is produced per hour. It goes ahead to identify potential changes in performance.
Solar Storage Bank
The solar power kit for home produces electricity when the sun is shining during the daytime. However, your home will still need electricity at night or even on cloudy and rainy days when the sun is not shining. This is when you need to add a battery pack to your panel system in order to offset that mismatch.
Circuit breaker/Breaker Panel
The power source which connects the electrical circuits in the house is what we call a breaker panel. While a circuit is a continuous pathway that connects all lights and outlets in the electric system.
There is a circuit breaker for each circuit and the work of the circuit breaker is to prevent an unfortunate occurrence such as fire hazard as a result of excessive drawing in of electricity. The circuit breaker does this by tripping off each time the circuit demands much electricity thus, interrupting the flow of current through the circuit.
Benefits of Solar Panel kit for Home
Solar energy is renewable. It is sustainable and is simply inexhaustible. As people have realized the benefits of the solar power system, most people nowadays are opting for it. The good news is that I have a versed knowledge of this system and can have it installed efficiently and at an affordable rate.
Now, what do you stand to gain when you have the solar panel system installed in your home?
It saves cost
This is the number one reason why people opt for solar energy in the home but there is more to it. It offers a great opportunity for people looking to reduce their monthly electricity bills and to go into a longer duration investment with low risk.
You should, however, know that the savings you will get from going solar will depend on certain factors like the amount of energy you consume, the size of the solar energy system, the angle and size of your roof, the local electricity charge rates as well as the number of hours of direct daily sunlight.
Solar Power System Works Everywhere
Solar panel system works almost everywhere in the world. It is surprising to know that even some regions of the world like Alaska and the Pacific Northwest with relatively low solar resources still get to benefit and save some cost using solar energy.
How much more countries like Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, etc. are located in the tropical sub-Saharan region? These countries could boast of good-to-excellent solar resources and should do well to harness the resource they have.
It Increases Your Home Value
Increase the value of your home by installing the solar panel kit for your home. This is like an upgrade to your home. Maybe you don’t know this but studies have shown that homeowners pay even higher rents for a home with a solar power system.
According to a study carried out by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It revealed that the solar system on average increased the value of a home by as much as $15,000. This also means that homes with solar installed systems have the tendency of selling more than homes that do not have PV.
It Has Positive Environmental Impact
It is high time we think about our environment as well. We feel the impact of the environment directly or indirectly. The use of fuel, coal, etc. as a source of energy has over the years created much greenhouse effect which has accumulated and has been causing more harm than good to the environment.
Using the solar power system offers an excellent remedy to this. Asides the fact that using the solar-generated electricity doesn’t cause pollution of air, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions like CO2. It also prevents excessive pollution of air by major pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. It also reduces the need to consume more water.