Installing Solar Panels on Your Home or Business

Solar panels are just now entering an exciting era of usability and practicality. Solar Panels are typically installed on the top of homes or businesses, but they can also be installed next to the structure if space permits. This is usually not a big deal if you live in the country where you have acres and acres of cheap land at your disposal. However, if you live in a populated city it usually makes more sense to install solar panels on the top of the building that needs power. It is important to install your solar panel so that it the sun hits the panels at the right angle.

Ideally the solar panel would be directly pointed at the sun at all times. In the past, tracking devices were not economically feasible, and they have not been used. Instead solar panels were installed in a fixed position that usually pointed to the south. You can now install a tracking system that actually continously rotates your solar panels throughout the day to keep your solar panels producing at maximum capacity. These systems are not cheap and they work best when they have room to rotate which is not always easy to do on top of your house. For this reason, tracking systems work best in remote locations where real estate is cheap. If you don't have this luxury, keep in mind that solar panels produce at full capacity when placed in direct sunlight. Fix your solar panels directly under the noon time sun. Remove all obstructions and trim branches that may be blocking sunlight to your solar panels. Many people do not take this consideration seriously, and they are greatly disapointed to find out that their solar panels don't put out the electrity that they claim they will. Well, the answer is simple, solar panels need to be in full sun without any exceptions. If you don't follow this simple rule, you're just not going to get enough out of your solar panels to justify the cost.

The only advantage that you may have on your side however is that your solar panels may last longer if they are not under the stress of full sun everyday. Solar panel mounts are now made specifically for the use of installing photovoltaic solar panels. Solar panel mounts come in several different forms. Some mounts work better on RVs, some solar panel mounts are designed to affix your panels to poles, on the top of your house, or next to your home. In any case, don't try to make your own mounts unless you have really researched this. Your solar panels are an expensive part of your home, and you don't want to come home someday to find thousands of dollars of solar panels destroyed in a wind storm. I hope this article has given you some idea of how you might be able to install solar panels on your home.

There is much more to be written about this subject, so please visit my website for more information about solar panels: http://www.solarpanel.be

Noah Stephens is an expert on photovoltaic solar panels. Visit his website http://www.solarpanel.be