Solar Equipment Details

At one point or another, most homeowners will receive a knock on their door and they will be presented with a solar panel installation sales pitch. By the end of the solar powered systems sales pitch, the homeowner gets a sheet that will display the costs of solar panels as well as information on how to procure a solar panel installation. But what the document will fail to disclose is about the solar equipment details. It won’t give information about the solar panels and solar power inverters that will actually be installed on your home.  

The solar powered systems equipment - the solar panels and solar power inverter - is quite possibly the more important decision factors when you are evaluating solar quotes. The solar panels and solar power inverters are not all the same and if you are considering adding a solar panel installation to your property and the typical warranty for a solar power system will be the lifetime of the solar panels - 25 years.

Some perspective solar electricity consumers don’t think that it is important to know the details about the solar panels and solar power inverters, but it is. Here’s why:

The Quality of Solar Equipment Varies

There’s a lot of solar panels and solar power inverters that are on the market today, and each piece of equipment has unique characteristics. After the solar panel installation is placed on the property, every solar power system will be able to harness sunlight and then convert it into usable solar electricity for your home. However, selecting the perfect solar panels and solar power inverter for your solar powered system isn’t an easy task. When selecting the solar powered systems equipment it is important to keep in mind that the solar panels that you choose and the solar power inverter you choose will determine the amount of solar electricity that the solar power system will produce, which will really impact the amount you will save on your utility bills.

The higher end cost of solar panels will produce more solar electricity over a smaller area, meaning that you are able to produce more solar electricity with the same number of solar panels on your roof. The solar panels and solar power inverter that are on the higher end, will also perform at higher levels during substandard weather conditions and are specifically designed to continue to produce electricity to their fullest extent for 25 years and possibly longer.

The high-end solar power inverters are also more efficient when it comes to converting the solar electricity, that is produced by your solar panels into usable electricity for your home. They are also designed to make sure that your entire solar power system us performing at maximum capabilities.

The difference of high end and lower quality solar panel equipment can mean that there’s a massive difference in the production over the entire lifetime of your solar power system as well as a rather large difference in the amount you save on your electricity.

Another important thing that you’ll want to keep in mind is that the solar panels and solar powered inverters that you install are what is in charge of producing the right amount of solar electricity to cover your needs or to give you the savings that you’re wanting to achieve.

The Price Varies

If a homeowner gets two quotes on a solar power system that has the same costs could be very different. They may be different in sizes, they could offer different levels of production and will have different warranties. A factor that will help determine how the quotes differ is in the quality of the solar panels as well as solar power inverters.

If you’re comparing the two different solar quotes that both list an upfront cost of solar panels that is $10,000: you can’t determine which offer is superior until you’ll know both the size of the solar power system as well as the quality of the solar panels as well as solar power inverter that is being offered. Sure the cost of the solar panels at $10,000 might be a fair price of 6 kilowatts (kW) system with the top-tier solar panels and a solar power inverter, however, you might not want to pay that price for a 6 kW system which uses a lower efficiency if equipment with shorter warranties.  

Once you know the proposed solar panels and solar power inverter in your solar power system, and what the cost of solar panels include in your solar quote, you are able to readily compare the cost of one solar panel installation versus another, by adding up their respective costs per watt ($/W). The costs of various solar power systems sizes, which provides a quicker metric for whether or not you’re not being overcharged for a given system.

The Appearance of the Equipment Varies

If you’ve driven through a neighborhood that has a few homes with solar power systems you have probably noticed that solar power systems look better than others. Some of this can be attributed to systems that are solar panel installation quality as well as the design it can also be due to the fact that there were different solar panels, racking materials, and different solar power inverters used.

Solar panels will, in general, come with black or blue solar cells, depending on if they are monocrystalline or polycrystalline panels, they also have different frame color options. Some solar panels are all black and have been compared to look like a plasma TV that has been placed on your rooftop and others look more like a grid. The size may also differ from one panel to another, though most residential solar panels are usually 3’ by 5’, there are both larger and smaller solar panels that are on the market. Your solar panels size will affect their placement as well as the layout that is on the roof.  

The solar power inverter that you choose, even though it grabs less attention, will also have an impact on the appearance of the solar power system. Certain solar power inverters, such as string inverter technologies, require a lot of boxes to be placed on the outside of your home or inside your garage. However, the microinverters, on the other hand, are installed under the solar panels, hidden from the sight.

You may not be that concerned with the appearance of your solar panel system if the solar panel installation isn’t going to be in sight. But if the solar panel installation is on a roof that faces the street or on a plot of the land that is plain sight, the aesthetic of a solar panel installation can be a deciding factor.

The Solar Companies Quality

If you are going car shopping, you wouldn’t buy it without getting a little information about the car manufacturer, the same should go for solar panels.  

Because solar powered systems are a relatively newer product on the market, you will most likely come across, solar panels and solar power inverters that are made by solar companies that you have never even heard of. But with a bit of research, you can get the general idea of how long each manufacturer has been in business and where they manufacture their equipment and the overall reputation in the market.

It is also very important for you to evaluate each and every solar panel companies warranty that is offered. You are going to want to be sure that you are installed a solar powered system that comes from reputable solar panel companies, that offer good warranty coverage and who will most likely stay in business long enough to honor the warranty should something happen to your solar power system in the future.