Solar works well on a roof, but not all roofs work well for solar. Here are a few factors you may want to consider when evaluating your roof for solar.
1. Age of your roof
Has it been more than 20 years since anyone has tended to your roof? If so, a specialist should take a quick look at your roof. Since solar panels have a long lifespan, make sure you make any home improvements on your roof before the actual installation.
2. Available space
Solar panels typically take about 1 square foot of space for every 10 watts produced. This means that if you want 3,000 watts produced by your panels, you’ll need about 300 square feet of open space on your roof. Make sure you have enough space for the amount of solar power you want to generate. You don’t have to plan to offset all your electricity usage. Even with a smaller system, you can substantially lower your utility bill.
3. Direction of your Roof
The most effective solar panels are on roofs that face south in the Northern Hemisphere, that way the solar panels get maximum exposure to sunlight. Houses that face east or west can still generate solar power and an installer will alert you if your house fits in this category.
4. Type of Roof
Installers have been doing solar for many years and are well educated in the different types of roof that are supportive of solar. The easiest type of roof for installers to work on is a composite shingle roof and the most difficult ones are wood-shake roofs. In general, most roofs can hold solar panels but there may be added fees for more equipment and steep angled roofs.
5. Angle of Roof
The angle of your roof can make a difference in your solar system’s price. For example, the steeper your roof is the harder it is for installers to navigate and install the panels. Installers may add on extra charges if your roof is incredibly steep and hard to work on, but you will still get solar panels. Flat roofs require more equipment because of the reverse tilt that goes on under the brackets to tilt the panels to make sure as much sun hits them as possible.
6. Shading
Making sure there are no objects blocking the sun from hitting the solar panels is very important. If surrounding trees are proving to create shade, you do have some options, so don’t worry.
If your home doesn’t meet the grade for each of these 6 factors, don’t fret. There are often ways to work with less-than-ideal roofs. It’s best to work with a professional to evaluate your home for solar. SunRun home solar offers free solar consultations and quotes so sign up today to learn if solar is right for your home.
Nami Sung is a solar energy professional currently employed at SunRun, a solar financing company. She enjoys writing about clean, renewable energy and is excited to contribute her first post to Solar Power Ninjas. You can read her articles on Renewable Energy World and follow her on Twitter (@sunrun_nami).
What if you covered the US highways with solar panels? Well, even if they only absorbed 15% of the solar power they came in contact with they still would produce three times the amount of energy consumed by the entire country. But is this doable? Well that’s exactly what Solar Roadways is planning on finding out. Check out the video for more info.
A planned city in Florida, Babcock Ranch, will receive a 75-megawatt solar plant from the Florida Power & Light with the aims of becoming completely solar power self-sufficient.
The massive photovoltaic project will be one of the largest, if not the largest, solar power projects in the world and will cost upwards of $350 million with construction beginning late this year.
The developers, Kitson & Partners, are hoping to see Babcock Ranch become the world’s first city to be 100 percent solar energy reliant.
“Electric vehicles, able to plug in for recharge at convenient community-wide recharging stations, will glide along avenues beneath the glow of solar-powered street lamps. Ingenious, revolutionary Smart Grid technologies will monitor and manage energy use while Smart Home technology will allow residents to operate their homes at maximum efficiency, thereby reducing energy costs,” states Kitson & Partners.
Renewable energy program loan guarantees have been frozen for four years, but not anymore. The Department of Energy has finally broken the ice with and granted on to Solyndra, Inc.
Solyndra will happily take the $535 million guarantee in loan dough and use it to boost its solar panel production. The company’s specialty lies in cylindrical solar panels that boast greater roof coverage. The loan will cover 75 percent of their upcoming expansion costs which will result in far greater production levels and increased hiring.
With the current administration’s agenda of boosting renewable energy resources and jobs, the Department of Energy is in the process of approving dozens of other loan guarantees in the coming weeks.
If you have been wanting to make your home greener, the time is now, friends. With Barack Obama’s eco-initiatives taking hold, you could seriously supplement the cost of green renovations with tax credits. For those of you who feel like you’ve been gipped by the recent drop in real estate, here’s a way you can cost-effectively restore equity in your home, and make the planet a healthier place to live.
Tax incentives for energy-efficient and renewable-energy home improvements may offer some consolation to homeowners who are feeling the burn of the downturn in the real estate boom.
What’s in it for you? Well here are some ways you can maximize your home’s potential with the help of the government’s dime.
Get new windows! Energy-efficient windows and insulation are eligible for a tax credit of 30% of qualifying costs up to $1,500.
Solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy systems may qualify for a 30% tax credit.
Heating stoves that use renewable biomass fuel now qualify for a tax credit.
There’s also a $1,500 energy-efficient credit, which currently lasts only last two years, meaning consumers must find a way to spend during this economic downturn.
“This is a pretty lucrative deal, and I don’t think the government can continue to do it going forward because it’s expensive,” says Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a not-for-profit based in Washington, D.C.
However, before you go out buying solar panels, be sure you’ve done your homework first. The IRS is expected to issue firm guidelines on specific details of the credits soon. Be sure to consult your accountant or tax professionals before filing the deductions.
Become an environmentalist, add money to your home and also save on energy bills? It’s a win-win situation.
According to the most recent New Energy Finance report coming out later this week, the cost of the silicon used in solar panels is dropping. The firm predicted this drop in August of last year and, according to them, it seems to be coming true. Oddly however, this is the opposite of the findings of Photon Consulting, who predicted earlier this month that prices for solar cell silicon will rise.
As a major component of solar panels, silicon’s cost has a large impact on the end user price for solar panels. In the last three years or so a relative lack of solar panel grade silicon has kept the costs high.
Who is correct about the future costs of silicon? Will the cost of solar power be dropping signifcantly in the near future? We’ll let you know as soon as we do.
The Solar Roadway is a series of structurally engineered solar panels that idea that will replace petroleum-based asphalt roads with Solar Road Panels that collect and store solar energy to be used by our homes and businesses. The renewable energy replaces the need for the current fossil fuels used for the generation of electricity, cutting greenhouse gases literally in half.
Solar Roadways are constructed using three layer system. The surface layer is tough enough to handle vehicles and weather systems, while the he upper layer is translucent and allows the sunlight pass by. The middle layer will consist of large array of solar collecting cells. This middle electronic layer will be fitted with microprocessors that will control lighting, communications, monitoring etc. The third base layer will distribute power collected by the electronics layer to the units connected to the Solar Roadways.
Jenkins High School (not pictured above) in Savannah, Georgia, just added a new solar panel which will not only save them on energy bills, but teach the students about going green and alternative energy.
Mike Joyner, an executive of Georgia Power, and one of the strongest advocates behind Jenkin’s new solar panel said, “Green energy has become more relevant in the county and a lot in school systems are trying to save money. Part of what we are doing is providing solar panels in classrooms to give students hands on application, something they can learn from look at and it promotes green energy.”
We at SolarPowerNinja love it! Teaching future generations about alternative energy is a step towards a healthier planet.
ZTE of China just unveiled the world’s first low-cost cell solar powered cell phone. The Coral-200-Solar uses a small solar panel on the back of the phone to receive its energy.
Charge time to talk time is 4:1 with it taking one hour in the sun to get enough juice for 15 minutes of conversation.
ZTE general manager, Wang Yong Zhong, spoke to reporters at a trade show yesterday saying that, “We estimate in the world there are more than two billion people who have limited or no access to electricity.”
In partnership with the emerging network operator Digicel, the Coral-200-Solar will launch first in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Haiti where ZTE expects to sell approximately 300,000 in the first year.
President Obama is making good on his promise to fund and explore renewable energy and took the time out of his busy scheudle today to tour a solar-power facility at the Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences. Today, Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package at the museum and the tour was to highlight his push for alternative energy. The Museum closed down today to host the historic event and will reopen to the public on Wednesday, February 18.
The museum’s rooftop solar photovoltaic system consists of 465 solar panels, generating a portion of the museum’s electrical power.
“What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save three and a half million jobs over the next two years,” Obama told an audience of 300 elected officials and members of the ‘green energy’ community in attendance at the museum. “It’s that we are putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long –- work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.”
President Obama also addressed upgrading the country’s power grid and encouraging “green energy” businesses such as solar power companies.
