How To Choose the Right Solar Panels for Your Home

There are numerous components that make up a solar system, each of which play a key role in harnessing the power of the sun and turning it into energy.

To help you get to grips with the basics of a solar system, and make an informed choice when investing in panels for your home, here is a short guide to the various components of a solar system:

• Solar panels – these harvest energy from the sun in kilowatts
• Inverters – these convert direct current power from the solar panels and batteries into alternating current power for appliances
• Mounting racks – these attach the panels to the roof of the building, poles or the ground
• Power, utility and kilowatt meters – these measure the amount of power sent to the grid, and the amount of power used from the grid
• AC, breaker and circuit breaker panels – these join the system’s power source to electrical circuits in the building

Let’s look at solar panels in a little more detail:

There are two main models of solar panel available to the public for residential use, and these are polycrystalline (poly) and monocrystalline (mono). But which should you choose?

Poly solar panels

Usually blue in color and made from raw silicon poured into square moulds and cut into wafers, poly solar panels offer two significant advantages to home or business owners:

• Affordable

Because these panels are made with each cell using fragments of silicon, instead of a single silicon crystal such as is used for mono panels, they are the more affordable option.

• High performance

With these panels, even when the sun isn’t shining or there is thick cloud coverage, they continue to have an energy efficiency rate of 13 to 16% on average.

However, despite their incredible energy rate, poly panels aren’t as powerful as mono panels due to the way in which they’re manufactured, and they also need a lot more space to be installed. Lastly, they are simply not as attractive as mono panels because of their blue color.

Mono solar panels

There are also two distinct advantages from using mono panels:

• More efficient with a higher output percentage

Requiring less space to install, you can have fewer mono panels for a higher rate of energy, which comes in at around 15 to 20% more than their poly counterparts.

• More aesthetically pleasing

Usually black, mono panels offer a clean, uniform look and are designed to last longer than other types of solar panels. Not only that, but they also function well in low light conditions and are designed to absorb more energy.

While mono panels are more expensive per square foot, you will need less of them, and their longer lifespan means you won’t need to replace them until a much later date than poly panels.

Fortunately, whatever type of panel you choose to go with, there are plenty of ways to offset your investment with government incentives and tax breaks, and a conversation with a local solar provider, will help answer all of your questions and get you powering your home via the sun’s rays, pronto!

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