Solar Panel Buying Tips

So you’ve decided to take the solar power plunge, congratulations! Now you need to decide what the right solar panels are for your home. Here are some helpful tips to consider when making the decision, and as always, our friendly customer service representatives here at ibuysolarpanels.com are just a phone call away!

First, you need to know how much power you can actually get from the sun in your home. In order to figure this out, you need to measure how much sunlight your roof (or wherever you plan on installing the solar panels) gets per day. This is called ‘insolation’ and you can find a variety of devices to help you measure this.

Secondly, decide how much power you want to generate with your solar panels. Are you trying to power your entire home, or just some of it? By looking at your energy usage, you can determine how many solar panels you’d need to completely power your home. Keep in mind that your energy usage probably varies between the winter and summer, depending on where you live – so if you plan on dropping off the power grid you’ll need to account for how much peak energy you use during the year.

Another factor that’s going to determine how many solar panels to buy is your budget. Though you might prefer to power your home completely with solar panels, after you figure out how much power you need, you might realize that it’ll cost more than you can afford right now. It’s certainly okay to slowly get yourself off the power grid with solar panels over a couple of years. Physical space will also be something to consider, as ten 100-watt solar panels might take up a little more space than five 200-watt panels. Though the more powerful panels will cost a little more, the price per watt figure is something to keep in mind when buying your panels.

After you’ve decided which panels to buy, take a look at our Mounting Solar Panels article for instructions on how to mount solar panels yourself.