What You Need to Know Before Installing Solar Panels
Solar panels are an excellent way to save money on the utility bill and they are also a great way to help the environment by reducing the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The reason is that many power plants use coal or fossil fuels to provide power, and those materials release greenhouse gases into the air. Solar power is a safe, clean, renewable source of energy that does not use energy from the power grid and therefore does not contribute to the release of greenhouse gases.
Since no energy is drawn from the power grid, nothing is charged to the homeowner’s energy bill. So, solar panels have a lot of advantages to the homeowner and to the planet, but before acquiring them, you should be informed about the various factors that go into their installation. Your solar installer will inform you of many of these requirements, but how do you choose a solar installer in the first place? That is one of the many things you need to know before choosing a solar panel installation in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, or anywhere else in the US.
The Steps to Installing Solar Panels
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Hire the Right Installer
You need a company that is experienced, reliable, and trustworthy to perform the installation. These are, of course, criteria that you would want in anyone who comes to work on your home, so a solar panel installer is no different. Ideally, you should check with multiple different companies to get a variety of different quotes.
The company you choose should also be well established so you know that they will be around to service your solar panels should anything go wrong. Solar installations do not typically require much maintenance, so there is little worry that any problems may arise; nonetheless, you want a company who you know will be around for the duration of the installation, which is about twenty to twenty five years.
2. Find Out If Your Roof Can Support Solar Panels
There is no point in purchasing a solar installation if your roof cannot support them, so you should find out if your roof can handle the installation, whether it will need reinforcement, and how many panels it can hold. The installer you choose to hire will perform a general site visit where they evaluate the condition of your roof, the type of roof, the angle and shading of the roof, and more. All of this information will help them to determine the size and type of solar installation you need.
3. Evaluate The Electrical System of the Home
The installer should provide an engineer who will do a check of the home’s electrical system to ensure that it can manage the power produced by the solar installation. They will check the electrical panel of the home to find out if it needs to be upgraded. Sometimes the solar installation will provide more amperage than the current electrical system can handle, if that is the case, then its ampere capacity will need to be increased.
4. Permits and Paperwork
There is always some bureaucracy involved when making a big change to the home, in the case of solar panels, the red tape includes solar incentives and building permits. They vary from state to state but your installer should be familiar with them, even so, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with at least some of the rules regarding a solar panel installation.
Choose The Right Solar Panel Installation For Your Home
The act of choosing solar panels and the company to install them takes a lot of thought and care, however choosing the right installer can alleviate most of the stress regarding the purchase of a solar installation. So, the first, and arguably, most important step, is choosing the right company. Once you have decided on the installer, everything should go more smoothly and you will be well on your way to energy independence.
