Solar panel options 

In the northern hemisphere, solar panels harvest the most energy when they are installed on a tilted, south facing roof, that is unshaded. The most common solar technologies are photovoltaic, that uses arrays  to turn sunlight into electricity, and thermal, that uses sunlight to heat water or air for use inside. If your home uses a lot of energy for heating, or you live somewhere where heating fuel is expensive, a solar thermal investment could break even sooner. 
 

Plan ahead 

That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t work when set up another way.  Normally when there isn’t a south-facing roof, a house will have both east and west facing roof spaces. In this scenario, the preference is  the one closest to the south  with the  time of use billing and late afternoon peak periods. Over time, more people are choosing the west to harvest more power in the later afternoon. This is the case in California since homeowners will be on time of use billing plans from their utility by the end of 2019. Time of use billing is the concept that the more people use energy from the utilities, the more it will cost. Power in the middle of the day or night will be cheaper than electricty from 5 pm to 9 pm. If you use solar panels in the day and use the network at night when it is less expensive, you will be using time of use billing to your advantage. Since 2011, micro-inverters are common use optimize power at each panel by varying current (I) and voltage (V) to maximize power output. From there it translates it to AC power at the panel. A reduction in Amps in one panel caused by shade has no impact on the other panels that aren’t in shade. This device drastically improves the results from a site with intermittent shade. 
 

Other options 

Some legislators give renters with the same opportunity for solar energy as a homeowner installing panels in a community solar. Community solar purchases a small portion of output from a solar farm. You can buy a residential system from a solar farm and get credited with this percentage of power generated at the community solar. The amount of  roof space needed to install solar panels depends on the size of solar system needed. Most homes have enough sun and roof space available for solar power. With advanced research and technology, solar installers resolve issues of  shading and angles your solar panels are facing. Modern solar panel systems are designed with these variables in mind.

If you want to move into the future and join the solar revolution, or if you want to find out what solar panels are right for you, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. For more information relating to going solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.