Climatic change is rampant and fast growing. It has its effects and it can be felt everywhere. Global warming is on the rise, with that melting of icebergs, scanty rainfall at some places whereas off-season rainfall at some. All this is leading to extreme climatic conditions. But, what are we really doing about it? All our renewable energies are fast depleting and in the coming years, there will come a situation when it will be no longer be available. It will become scarce. So, to address this situation, we can start with an installation of a solar hot water panels in your home. But is it that easy as it sounds? There are a number of things to keep in mind before installing one. So here we are, providing you with a comprehensive guide to install one at your homes.
- Check your roof: Solar panels are not short term investments. When you install a solar panel, you have to plan long term for nearly 25 coming years. So for that, is your roof strong enough and appropriate to withstand such long commitment? If the answer is no, make sure you first invest in repairing your roof and then install the solar panel. Because if you plan on doing the reverse, then it will be a pretty expensive affair for you.
- Investigate your home’s energy efficiency: You need to evaluate whether the consumption of your energy is too much and whether you can control it by other ways and means. Based on that, you will have to decide if a solar panel system is needed in your house. Whatever the choice is, your ultimate goal should be to reduce the energy consumption. A good guide for this will be to measure the number of kilowatts used in day and keep a close watch on your bills.
- Different house different roofs: This is one of the important factors to consider before you install a solar panel in your house. Your house needs to meet certain criteria’s before the installation. You need to consider which direction your house is facing, southern being the most favorable. Angle of the roof, obstacles like trees and chimney also plays an important role. To assess this, you can take five photographs of the southern facing of the house. Ideally around early morning, mid-morning, mid-day, mid afternoon and late afternoon. This will help you evaluate the shade of the trees at different times thereby helping you determine what will be the yield of the solar energy and your expectations attached to it.
- The amount of Sunshine: I know we are stating the obvious, but the most important one. If you stay in an area which has cloudy climate most of the time, then even the most efficient will not be to generate the energy you need. For this, the countries lying close to the equator or on it will reap the maximum benefits. As a matter of fact, half of India can rely on this source of energy since we have enough supply of sunshine. Setting up solar hot water panels in those regions of India can also prove to be economically viable. Solar hot water panels are set up the same way as a normal panel, only difference is that it is attached to a water storage tank which in turn heats up the water and that in turn yields energy.
- Know your incentives: Government provides multiple incentives to house which are trying to set up solar panels and come up with initiatives to save energy.
- Do not forget about Insurance: You need to take this into consideration, since any damages that occur need to be covered. The cost of maintenance of solar panels is comparatively less and if the panels are damaged in some way then it can be covered in the house insurance. But you cannot assume such things and need to check this with your insurer whether the cost of is covered or no.
- Purchase from a reputable company: Since you are thinking long-term, investing a little right will not harm you right now. There are certain questions you need to address like installation costs, purchase options, length of warranty (20-25 years), feed-in tariffs, cost reduction, cost of the inverter, grid system, amount of energy generated and many more. Only when all these questions have satisfactory answers, only then go ahead with the purchase.
Do consider other options before narrowing down on something because there are a lot of possibilities that one company will offer you something and the other will offer something else. So list down your criteria, research and keep more options and then make a decision. We are installing solar panels in your houses is one decision you will not regret.
