Getting solar panels installed for your household is a big chance to change how you use energy at home. It only makes sense, for such an important upgrade, that you take some time to consider a few factors to make sure you make the right decision.
At Solar System Pty Ltd, we make this simpler with our 7-step guide. So that you can know what to look out for to understand whether this technology is right for you. Along with what else to expect with a solar system.
1. How Sunny Your Area is
Solar energy systems make use of the abundant free resource that is the sun to generate electricity that you can use at home. Understanding how bright or sunny your region tends to be will help you get a better idea of how much power solar panels will be able to generate for your household.
Cloudy weather doesn’t generate as much sunlight as a day with a clear sky. Similarly, overcast from residential towers or similar features in your landscape can also make an impact on how effectively your solar panels can generate power. Therefore, you should also look around at the other features in or around your home that might influence your access to sunlight.
2. Also Consider How Dusty, Windy or Rainy it is
These are also some other weather conditions that can influence the performance of your solar panels. Flying dust, sand or debris in the area could lead to your solar panels becoming dirty more often. In such cases, your solar panels may take more cleaning and time devoted to this task to ensure the best return in performance.
High quality solar panels won’t take or bear any damage from the pressure of wind. In fact, cool wind is great for keeping solar panels dry and from overheating. Solar panels are also installed on a tilt to let rainwater easily run away. Rain is also great for hassle-free solar panel maintenance, as it helps keeps any dirt or debris right off.
3. Your Household Energy Use
To create your ideal custom solution for your home, our solar installers will ask you about your electricity bill and the way your household uses energy. This is also including how many people live in your household, how long and often you stay at home, and when you most use electricity.
This will help us tailor a solar system design that perfectly suits you.
A 5kw system can already return a great deal of savings on a $400-500 quarterly energy bill. However, if your energy needs a bigger system, we may recommend a system with more solar panels or an inverter with a higher power capacity.
4. Feed-in Tariffs
Another excellent feature that has allowed so many who use solar power to save, is feed-in tariffs. Feed-in tariff are rates of how much credits or money you earn from your energy provider, after electricity generated by your solar system is put back into the grid. For this reason, we believe that it’s also worthwhile to compare the feed-in tariff rates between energy providers along with their service cost, just in case you also need back up electricity from the grid.
5. Finance Options & Government Rebates
Unfortunately, the promise of cheap solar system installations doesn’t also always come with high performance. That’s why it’s always worth it to buy a high-quality system. A well-devised solar system will pay itself back, but the cost of a proper system may not be something that everyone can pay upfront.
6. STCs – Small-Scale Technology Certificates
You may have heard of STCs previously but not understood what the term meant.
STCs or small-scale technology certificates are a credit in the Australian solar industry that you are issued. The amount earned is based on a few factors, such as when you purchased your system, its kW capacity and the predicted solar radiation of the location you live.
Many Australians are using STCs to offset the cost of their solar system installation, to make more technology accessible for themselves.
7. Time of Installation
Another thought many consider when it comes to signing on for a solar panel installation is concerns of how long the installation will take. The actual installation itself usually only takes between 1 or a few days, depending on the system. With the paperwork and other processes involved.
Our team at Solar Systems Australia, always aims to install solar panels within 2-3 weeks of signing.
Learn More
For more information about whether a solar system is suitable for your household, contact our solar installers. Solar Systems Australia is able to offer you a free solar assessment to provide you with a proper estimate of how much you can save with a solar panel installation.
You can call us on 1800 975 270 or email us on [email protected].