Last year, solar power generated almost 1300 Terawatt Hours of power capacity around the globe! That’s enough power to run over 122 million of the most energy-intensive homes in America for an entire year.
Solar panels are popular worldwide, as they lower a household’s monthly energy bill and make families independent from unreliable energy grids and utility companies. However, you can’t simply stick them on your roof and call it a day; they also require regular care.
Avoiding common residential solar care errors can boost your solar array’s efficiency and lengthen its useful life. Read the rest of this handy guide to learn about the most common errors.
How to Remove Errors of Residential Solar Care
1. Skimping on the Inverter
Complete solar arrays are made of solar panels, an inverter, and a battery or set of batteries. While it’s evident to most people that quality panels and top-notch batteries are must-haves, the importance of the inverter is more elusive.
The inverter converts the direct current from the solar panels into the alternating current used by the batteries and appliances. One should make sure they pay for a decent inverter and installation. If the inverter is cheap or the wiring is shoddy, the resultant breakdown will take your whole residential solar system with it.
2. Ignoring Electricians’ Advice
The electricians supplying and installing the solar array will have much to say about how to use the equipment. They may direct you to an instruction booklet or show you a few key things about interacting with the inverter and batteries.
Following every instruction to the letter will ensure you don’t make an expensive mistake (disconnecting something you shouldn’t, for example). Be sure to ask for clarification if there’s something you don’t understand (they love talking about this stuff).
3. Neglecting Cleaning
Dirt and debris gathering on your solar panels can cause a variety of problems. Firstly, every bit of the panel covered is a little bit of efficiency lost. The dirt blocks the sun from reaching the covered parts of the panel, and this causes energy bills to slowly increase.
Secondly, debris captures and holds water, often on parts of the panel where moisture can rust and corrode the structure. Cleaning panels is a must, but one must be careful to clean the panels correctly as well.
4. Leaving the Trees Up
The way a person tends the trees in their yard has a significant effect on their solar panel installation. Not only can trees grow to be the staging ground for leaves, bark, and animal droppings to attack your panels, large branches can pose a critical threat.
Be sure to trim trees when they’re small, and cut them down to size if they’re tall. At the very least, they can block the sun. At worst, bad weather could blow a thick branch straight into your solar panels, breaking them instantly.
5. Mishandling Batteries
Batteries can last a long time if handled properly and can give up early if not. Overcharging a battery can cause it to heat up and even explode.
Overcharging occurs when the charger doesn’t stop charging the batteries when they’re fully charged. Having a suitable inverter and periodically inspecting the inverter and battery levels both prevent things from reaching this advanced point. Having some fans blowing on the batteries is also a good idea.
Letting the batteries run out of the stated minimum voltage is called “deep discharging” and should also be avoided. It won’t make the batteries unsafe to be around, but it will diminish their ability to hold and output charge in the future.
6. Foregoing Inspections
Solar panels and inverters usually have mounts and brackets that keep them in place. The inverter’s location can make it prone to trapping bugs, getting wet, or sustaining other forms of damage.
Similarly, strong weather can loosen the mounting of solar panels over time. This can misalign panels in the beginning, making them less efficient, and can lead to more significant problems in the future. At some point, all it would take was a strong gust of wind to tear the panels right off the roof.
All of this is easy to avoid if you have a look at the nuts and bolts holding everything together now and then. Getting professionals to have a look at the equipment once a year is also great to do.
7. Forgetting the Professionals
On the topic of professionals, it’s recommended that you get proper solar technicians to inspect your system every few years thoroughly. Your personal solar care routine prevents day-to-day hazards from becoming a huge problem but professionals will do in-depth testing and advise on any parts that need deep cleaning, repairing, or replacing.
Solar panels cut utility costs so much that they pay for themselves within a few years. Put some of your savings towards solar care costs to ensure your panels last as long as possible. Hiring the best solar company Campbell has will also ensure you get service that’s worth every penny.
8. Stalling the Replacement of Parts
No one wants to hear the experts say that it’s time to replace a part, but if they do, it’s good to replace the part quickly. If one component fails, it’s almost as if it passes its job off to all the other parts in the system. This can lead to system-wide failures and costly repairs if left for too long.
Avoid Residential Solar Care Errors
Residential solar care errors are common and happen to most people simply due to a lack of awareness. Solar panels make life so convenient that many forget that these systems need to be looked at, cleaned, and maintained regularly.
When you get your panels, be sure to clean them properly, get a good inverter, mind the trees, treat your batteries well, and promptly source the best replacement parts. Conduct regular inspections and get a professional to join you now and then.
Following your electrician’s advice will help your system have a long and useful life. If you want a boatload of other helpful advice, check out our lifestyle and business blogs.
