Solar panels are a great source of renewable energy for your home. Which certainly reduces your electricity bill and saves your environment at the same time.
As homework, installing a solar panel is indeed a wise decision and smart financial investment. The more you evaluate any solar panel company, the more difficult it would be for you to select the best one.
This is because there are several factors that need to be considered which include the equipment that you select for your entire system, your budget for the solar panel and obviously the installer, all these factors have a great impact on your selection.
Don’t stress out by confusing yourself with the numerous options available in the market, as we have jot down some easy ways through which you can educate yourself and select the best solar panels for your home so that you cannot be deceived by that plethora of opportunities.
Top Ways to Get the Best Solar Panel
This part of our guide will focus on some techniques by which you can easily select your solar panel. Go through these steps and they will surely help you.
Picking a Material For Your Panel
Different panels are made of different materials so it is better to know which material is good to go with.
Monocrystalline
If you want your solar panels to be efficient then you can go with monocrystalline. They are the best options for converting light to energy because of their high silicon purity. It is also to be noted that monocrystalline solar panels are often the most exclusive so this option is worth trying if you want the highest productivity but with the high price tag.
If you are purchasing solar panels to avoid pollution then you should go with some other material as they tend to produce most waste when they are manufactured.
Polycrystalline
Then many solar panels are made of polycrystalline which is ideally the best environment-friendly material. They utilize all of the silicon materials they are industrialized with, making them the “greenest” panel opportunity.
Polycrystalline solar panels are also more economical than monocrystalline panels, but not as efficient as they were. Do remember that Polycrystalline solar panels do not work efficiently in warm temperatures so temperature above 80 °F is not at all suitable.
Thin-Film
Like any other buyer if you are extra price-conscious then you should get the panel having thin film. They degrade faster than any other panel, thus proving to be the most cost-efficient option available in the market. Thin-layer solar panels that need less or no maintenance usually cost between $175-300 USD per panel.
Only the drawback is that they require more space than any other panel but with the same level of energy output.
Amorphous Solar Panels
Now, if you don’t have enough space to properly accommodate the solar panel then there are amorphous solar panels that can help you. They are considered as the subsets of thin-film solar panels.
Through a procedure known as “stacking,” which includes various layers of amorphous silicon cells, these panels can certainly hit high levels of competence, around twice as high as other thin-film solar panels.
Identify the correct manufacturer
Once you have decided to purchase a solar panel for your home then you have to do the proper homework. Recently, the solar industry has grown a lot so do thorough research about different brands and their offerings.
However, there have also been numerous manufacturers that instead offer inexpensive and low-quality solar panels, many of which are generally from China.
Although it is also significant to note that many of the top solar panel manufacturers are also from China. This clearly means that it is not wise to judge a solar panel’s quality based just on the country of origin.
Don’t forget to check the warranty
Besides checking the product warranty, you should also check the performance warranty. Industry-standard is generally 10 years for materials and 25 years for performance.
As well, Bloomberg New Energy Finance publishes a tier 1 list of solar panel manufacturers every year to help investors determine which are the best to invest in terms of solar panels.
Although, we agree that this list is not a direct indication of quality, still, we can still use this to distinguish the good quality solar panels from the low-quality ones.
Ballasted surface
Installing solar panels on a ballasted surface is a wise option if you live in a low-wind area. They are usually attached to the rooftop at an angle several feet or meters above the roof.
These ballasted mounts proved very efficient as they worked by preventing any penetration to the roof and getting sunlight directly. Furthermore, they can cost between $50-100 USD per panel so on the whole this system tends to be the most viable option.
Mechanically-attached panels
Another form of mounting is mechanically-attached panels which are properly and tightly fixed to your roof at a slight or no angle. They also work in harsh weather conditions since they are mounted to the roof beams.
Mechanically-attached mounts may be priced between $75-125 per panel but as they are small they go easy on the rooftop.
Hybrid mounts
Lastly, you will also see Hybrid mounts. They are attached to your roof like mechanically-attached mounts but they can also raise higher. Or can be given some angle like ballasted mounts. This will keep them completely safe on the roof and receive the maximum amount of sunlight.
Fixed-mount
Don’t worry, if you can not place your panels on the roof. You can always choose a fixed mount option that follows the sun throughout the day.
In case, if your solar panel happens to be on the ground and gets some shade every day. Then fixed mounts can surely aid your system to convert more energy.
Conclusion
We have seen that by the end of 2021, there will be a rapid increase in the prices of energy, and maybe these are the highest prices that the conventional energy sector has witnessed so far. But fortunately, there are some alternatives available that can power your home.
Talking about solar panels, we are pleased to inform you that they are getting more affordable and reachable than ever before. While surveying, we also learned that It took almost 40 years for the number of solar panel installations. In the United States, it exceed one million points, which it did in 2016.
But only three years later that solar fixing total had almost doubled by the end of 2021. A number of American homes. And businesses using solar energy should have surpassed three million benchmarks according to projections.
Go through our guide thoroughly so that your solar panel can be your companion for years and years.
