Planning to Power home with solar energy?

There are a number of steps to follow when planning to power home with solar energy.

1. Investigate about Home's Energy Efficiency

 •Home energy audits: A home energy audit can help to understand where home is losing energy and what steps to take to improve the efficiency of home.

•Appliances and electronics: Use the appliances and electronics more efficiently, or invest in highly efficient products.

•Lighting: Switch to energy efficient lighting, such as LED light bulbs.

•Heating and cooling: Heating and cooling needs of home will significantly affect the amount of solar energy needed. Weatherizing home and heating and cooling efficiently will reduce the amount of electricity need to produce with solar.

2. Assess Solar Potential at home

    Before deciding on the best way to use solar electricity at home, assess the potential solar energy that can be produced at home. Because PV technologies use both direct and scattered sunlight to create electricity.

However, the amount of power generated by a solar energy system at a particular site depends on how much of the sun's energy reaches it, and the size of the system itself.

3. Assess Options for Using Solar

    Purchasing and installing a system that you fully own and maintain is no longer the only option if you want to go solar.

4. Estimate Solar Electricity Needs

    To help contractor to provide recommendations for system’s type and size, gather information about home and electricity use. If you are continuing to make significant changes to improve home's energy efficiency, you may need less electricity than used in the past. 

5. Obtain Bids and Site Assessments from Solar Installers

     Obtain at least three bids for the PV system installation and make sure the bids are based on the same characteristics and metrics to enable comparison shopping. A cost/watt and estimated cost/kWh are the most useful metrics for comparing prices across different installers, as installers may use different equipment or offer quotes for systems of different sizes.

6. Understand Available Financing and Incentives

    In addition to incentives, be sure to explore all of the available solar financing options. Every situation is different, and what is best for your property depends on many factors.

7. Work with Installer and Utility

    If you decide to install a solar energy system, installer should be able to help to complete the necessary permitting and steps. Installer will determine the appropriate size for the system. The size will be based on electricity needs. Installer will also ensure that all equipment is installed correctly and oriented and tilted in such a way to maximize the daily and seasonal solar energy received and produced by the system.

Alphazee Solar System