Solar Electric Panel Manual

Solar Trading Post
This book is written for you, the solar panel buyer. It’s divided into sections, each
covering a part of the process of chhoosing a solar panel.
What is Solar Electric Energy
Types of Solar Panels

The Home Solar Panel Buyer’s Manual
Components
What’s in this Manual?
Types of Solar Systems
• How to choose a good solar energy system
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot
Water • The different types of solar energy systems
Sizing and Costing • The advantages and disadvantages of each type of solar energy system
Installing • What to look for when choosing a solar panel system
Payback Time • How to maximize your solar investment
Solar Rebates • Where to go to find information on costing and installing solar power
Maintanence & Before You Buy • Where to go to get solar energy rebates
Solar Buyer’s Checklist • How to choose a solar panel installer
• How to maintain your solar panel system

page 1 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post
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1
What is Solar Energy?
It is important that you understand exactly what solar energy is. Wikipedia defines solar energy
as: “energy from the sun in the form of heat and light.”
What is Solar Electric Energy When you use the term solar energy, you are actually referring to two different types of energy:
heat and light.
Each type of solar panel is designed to work either with the sun’s heat, or the sun’s light.
Components
For homeowners today, there are two types of solar panels. These are solar electric (otherwise
Types of Solar Systems known as photovoltaic.) Solar electric panels work with the sun’s light. Solar electric panels
create electricity from the sun’s light that can be used to power your appliances – lights, fridge,
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot etc.
Water
And there are solar hot water panels. Solar hot water panels use the sun’s heat to heat the
Sizing and Costing water for your shower, kitchen, etc.
Installing
Payback Time
Here is a description of the mechanics of how photovoltaics work.
Solar Rebates
And another article on photovoltaics.
Maintanence & Before You Buy
Solar Buyer’s Checklist

To check solar panels costs, click here to visit the Alternative Energy Store

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Types of Solar Electric Panels
SOLAR PANELS – (AKA PHOTOVOLTAICS) For most home the panels normally used are
silicon. This technology has been around for the last 50 years. And while efficiency has certainly
improved, the way these panels work has not really changed.
Components
SOLAR TILES These are simply solar panels, but come in a much more integrated form. Instead
Types of Solar Systems of panels that sit on top of your roof, solar tiles are integrated into the roofing as actual tiles.
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot Tiles are slightly less efficient than panels, so you need more of them to produce power. However,
Water they do the job of roofing as well as energy production. This can make them a very cost effective
option, especially if your house needs re-roofing.
Sizing and Costing What’s in a Solar Electric Panel System?
Installing This depends what type of solar panel system you have. The next section explains each type of
solar panel system.
Payback Time
It’s important to note here that the actual solar panels themselves only make up about 50% of
Solar Rebates the cost of the whole system. The rest of the cost comes from the other components explained in
the section below.

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Solar Panel System Components
SOLAR PANELS These come in different shapes and sizes (see section ‘types of solar panels’)
but they all do the same thing – turn sunlight into DC electricity.
What is Solar Electric Energy INVERTER The inverter turns DC electricity from your solar panels into AC electricity.
DC stands for Direct Current electricity. Grid power and your house appliances run on AC
Types of Solar Panels electricity.
Components So once the solar panels have made DC electricity this needs to be turned in AC with an inverter.
There are many types of inverters. However, if you have a grid-tied system, you will need to have
Types of Solar Systems a true-sine wave inverter.
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot CHARGE CONTROLLER This is only needed if you have batteries. A charge controller regulates
Water the voltage and current coming from the solar panels going to the battery. They also stop your
batteries from getting overcharged and a reverse flow from your batteries to your solar panels
Sizing and Costing during the night.
Installing NET METERING This is an electric meter that can spin backwards. This allows you to sell power
back to the grid. Sometimes power companies require you to install a separate meter for your
Payback Time solar power system. This is because some meters are unable to run backwards. This is what your
meter will do when you are producing more solar energy than you are using.
Solar Rebates
CIRCUIT BREAKER / DISCONNECT This is a safety feature – it is used to disconnect your solar
Maintanence & Before You Buy panels from your house electrical system and the power grid. This is necessary for maintenance
work – both on your home and on the main power grid. For instance, when there is a power
Solar Buyer’s Checklist outage, you need to be able stop the solar power from flowing into the main power grid for the
safety of the maintenance team.

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NB. Off grid houses can be wired for DC power. This eliminates the need for an inverter (except
for some appliances that aren’t made to work with DC power. There aren’t many DC sound sys-
tems for example.) The advantage with keeping your power DC is that you won’t lose power
through converting it to AC. Typically, converting DC to AC will mean 6% power loss.

Types of Solar Electric Panel Systems – System Diagrams
GRID TIED Components: Solar Panels, Inverter, Net Meter, Circuit Breaker
Components
Grid tied systems work by connecting your solar energy to the electricity grid. You generate solar
power and sell the excess power back to the grid.

The advantages of this
Water system is that it is cost
effective and you can
Sizing and Costing sell your power when
you aren’t using it. The
Installing disadvantages are that you
cannot store your solar
Payback Time power.
Solar Rebates

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So if there is a power cut,
you will only have power if it is sunny outside and

your solar panels are making power.
OFF GRID
Components: Solar Panels, Inverter, Circuit Breaker, Batteries, Charge Controller, Backup Power
Off grid systems mean you are not connected to the grid – you live in a remote area. These
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systems are more expensive as you will need storage for your power in the form of batteries.
Off grid systems also
require a backup power
source. You will need
backup power if you
Water
have many rainy days in
a row that use up your
Sizing and Costing
stored battery power.
Installing
Backup power can also
be useful for unexpected
Payback Time
heavy power usage – for
instance if you have
Solar Rebates
many people to stay at
one time.

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GRID TIED WITH BATTERIES
Components: Solar Panels, Inverter, Circuit Breaker, Batteries, Charge Controller, Backup Power,
Net Metering
The grid tied with batteries

system is
when you are connected to the
grid and you have
Components
batteries to store your solar
energy.
This is a system where you get
the advantage of selling excess
Water
power to the grid. You also have
emergency backup power for
Sizing and Costing
when the grid goes down.
Installing
Payback Time
Solar Rebates
How to Decide which Type of Solar Panel System is the Best for Your Home
If you live off the grid – solar panels are usually a better investment than power cabling to
connect to the grid. As a rule thumb – if you live more than 1 mile away from the grid, the cost
of connection will be about the same as the cost of a solar system.

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And a solar system gives you ‘free power,’ unlike the grid, where you are paying for power by the
watt.
If you live on the grid there is one thing to consider – do you get frequent power cuts? If you do
get frequent power cuts, then a grid tied system with batteries will provide emergency backup
power for when the grid is down.
Otherwise, a grid tied system will give you the benefits of solar energy and bill savings, without
the added expense of batteries. Batteries add approximately 20-30% onto the cost of a grid tied
Components
system.

Solar Hot Water vs Solar Electric Panels
Water
There are two things to consider when choosing between solar hot water and solar electric panels
– climate and payback time
Sizing and Costing
Solar electric panels tend to have a longer payback time. On the other hand, they last longer
Installing than solar hot water panels. Solar electric panels are often warrantied for 25 years, but they have
been known to continue working for 40 years, with less than a 20% drop in energy production.
Payback Time
If you live in a hot and sunny climate, solar hot water is considered an excellent investment.
Solar Rebates It can break even in 3-8 years, and in some climates will supply 70% of your winter hot water
needs and 90% of your summer needs.
Solar hot water is less expensive that solar electric, and can work even in states with colder
Solar Buyer’s Checklist climates. For example, many solar hot water panels have been successfully installed in New
York, New Jersey and Canada, all places where it snows in winter.

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Solar electric panels work slightly better in cold and sunny climates. As they are harvesting
sunlight energy rather than heat, low temperatures are not a problem.
The advantage of solar electric is that it not only supplies you power, you can sell excess power
back to the grid. The peak production time for solar panels is from 10 – 3pm. This is when most
people are out of the house.
During this time, your solar panels are producing energy that isn’t being used – if you’re out, the
lights are off, appliances aren’t running. So this excess power can be sold back to the grid. If you
Components
have batteries, this power can then charge your batteries.
You could also invest in solar hot water and solar electric. If you are building a new house, this
may prove very cost effective.
Water
Solar Hot Water vs. Solar Electric Comparison Table
Sizing and Costing
Benefits Solar Electric / Photovoltaic Solar Hot Water
Sell Power back to the Grid Yes No
Installing
Payback Time 8-20 Years 3-8 Years
Inexhaustible Power Source Yes Yes
Payback Time
You have Control over Price of Power Yes Only for Hot Water Prices
Solar Rebates Increases Value of Your Home Yes Yes

Life Length of Solar Panel 25-40 years 10-15 Years
Maintanence & Before You Buy Clean Green Energy Yes Yes
Reliable Source of Energy Depends on Sunlight Depends on Sunlight
Solar Buyer’s Checklist Upfront Cost Higher Lower
Transportable No No
Tax Rebates Available Yes Yes

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6 You can also invest in solar hot water and solar electric. If you are building a new house, this may
prove very cost effective.

Sizing your Solar Electric System
Solar Electric Panels are sized in kW. A 1kW system will output approximately 1kW per hour on a
sunny day. Due to small losses in power from the inverter and other inefficiencies, a 1kW system
Components
will put out about 0.7kW per hour.
There is no exact correlation between the size of the system and the payback time. If you have
a larger system it will be more expensive. However, it will also supply you with more electricity,
thus saving you more off your power bill.
Water
Therefore, a smaller solar system and a larger system will have approximately the same payback
Sizing and Costing
time. However, once it is paid off, your larger solar panel system will save you more money. This
means it has a greater return on investment.
Installing
The amount of power you use effects the size and cost of your solar system. For example, if you
Payback Time
use 200kW a month, a 4kW system will take care of most of your needs, depending on where
you live.
Solar Rebates
If you live in California, you have on average 5.5 usable sunshine hours a day.
(Usable sunshine is measured by kW/m2 per day. This is called solar insolation. To find how much
solar insolation you have, you can check this solar insolation map.)

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So your 4kW system will make more power if you live in California. If you live in New Jersey, you
have on average 4.25 usable sunshine hours per day. So this same 4kW system will make less
power.
This video shows a simple way to size a solar power system.

Types of Solar Panels Costing Your Solar Electric Panel System

Components There are several factors controlling the cost of your system.The size of your house means
absolutely nothing.
What does matter are the factors listed below.
Water Cost Factors that you don’t control:
What state you are in (for rebates and tax incentives)
Sizing and Costing How much sun you get per day
Installing Cost Factors that you control:

Size of system - the bigger the size, the more expensive the system
Payback Time Type of System - Off Grid, Grid Tied, Grid Tied with Batteries
How much power you use
Solar Rebates
The size of your house means absolutely nothing
Solar Buyer’s Checklist An important part of costing is gathering several quotes for a job. This can be as simple as
phoning several installers (most installers will do a free site evaluation and quote.)

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Choosing a Solar Installer
There are two ways to install a solar system – you pay someone to do it, or you install it yourself.
Unless you are a registered electrician and have solar experience, we recommend paying a
What is Solar Electric Energy qualified installer to install your solar panels.
Types of Solar Panels The reasons for this are threefold:
Components Most councils require the electrics to be certified – this means the work must be done by a
certified installer. Many of the rebates can only be claimed by people who have had their system
Types of Solar Systems installed by a qualified installer.
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot Solar panel suppliers often require a certified installer as well. Depending on the small print in the
Water guarantee, doing the installation yourself can sometimes void the guarantee.
Sizing and Costing For solar panels to work at maximum efficiency, there are many factors that need to be taken
into account. Having a competent solar installer for your system means that you’re more likely to
Installing get your solar panels working at optimum efficiency – thus saving you more money.
Payback Time When selecting an installer there are several things to take into account. Collect several quotes to
make sure you are getting a good deal. Make sure that your installer has had previous experience
Solar Rebates with solar systems. There are several organizations that certify solar panel installers.
Maintanence & Before You Buy Here’s one place to start looking for a solar installer:
Find Solar - Directory of Pre-Screened Solar Professionals

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Payback of Your Solar Panel System
The payback time is the amount of time it takes after you bought a solar system for it to start
making you money. This is generally thought of as:
What is Solar Electric Energy Cost of System – Yearly Savings off your bill = Payback Time
Types of Solar Panels In other words, once your solar panel system has saved you more off your power bills than it cost
you to buy it, its payback time is over. Each time the sun shines, you’re literally making money.
Components
These are the factors that affect your solar system payback time:

Water 1. PRICE OF SYSTEM This is covered in the section above. However, you can certainly look
for a good deal on solar energy systems. The less you pay, the shorter the payback time.
Sizing and Costing It’s still important to make sure that you are buying quality, backed by a guarantee.
Installing
Payback Time 2. YOUR POWER BILL If you’re being charged an expensive rate for your power, your pay
back time will be shorter. The way to work out your power rate is in $/kW. On each power
Solar Rebates bill, there is a monthly amount for kW used.
Maintanence & Before You Buy Take this amount, and divide it by your power bill minus the fixed rates. (Fixed rates are
what you pay the power company anyway, regardless of how much power you’re using.)
Solar Buyer’s Checklist This will give you your power rate.

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The average cost for electricity in America is $0.10 per kW.
3. ENERGY PRICES This you can’t control, however, the faster energy prices rise, the quicker
your solar panels will pay themselves off. This is because your solar system will save you
more money off your power bill. Your solar panels make the same amount of energy, but
this energy is more expensive. Therefore, you spend less on expensive power.
4.
Components
YOUR HOUSE VALUE Studies have shown that solar panels add to the value of your
house. This value added is approximately 15 times the yearly power bill savings.
Here’s one such study : Oregon Realtors - Solar Value Added to House Resale
Water
For example, if your solar system saves you $500 in the first year, the system has added
Sizing and Costing
about $7500 to the value to your house.
Installing
For solar electric panel payback time, go and check this Solar Calculator – that’ll give you
an estimate of payback time.
Payback Time
Solar Rebates
Here’s another Solar Calculator you might want to have a look at.
NB. it’s important to realize that values from the Solar Calculator are estimates of payback time,
Solar Buyer’s Checklist and cost. When installing solar, it’s recommended to get a professional costing because there are
so many variables that affect your solar panel performance.

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4. WARRANTY When selecting a solar supplier, make sure that you are getting a suitable l
length of warranty for the solar system. Solar electric systems should be warrantied for 20-
25 years. Inverters can also be warrantied for 2-5 years.
The reason why a warranty is so important is that solar panels are a long term investment.
By having a longer warranty, you are guaranteeing that you will get your return on
Types of Solar Panels investment.
Components

Rebates Available
See DSIREUSA.org
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot Each state provides rebates and cash incentives. Some states provide greater benefits than
Water others. Most rebates can only be applied for after you have installed your solar system. Some
rebates allow you to claim tax rebates from the state for several years after installation of your
Sizing and Costing solar system.
Installing There is also a federal rebate – you get 30% off the price of your solar system in tax rebates.
The maximum amount you can get is $2000. And if you install a solar electric system and a solar
Payback Time hot water system, you can claim for both of these systems separately.
Solar Rebates This rebate is available to everyone who installs a solar system. One thing to know though, is
that most other rebates come on a first come, first served basis. Each year, a certain amount of
Maintanence & Before You Buy money is allocated to give to people claiming the rebate. Once that amount is reached, either the
rebate amount is less, or the rebate is no longer available.

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Solar Panel Maintenance
POWER OUTPUT For solar panels, you want to check every few months for drops in productivity.
You can do this simply by keeping track of your power bills.
What is Solar Electric Energy ROOF PENETRATIONS Check the flashing and sealing around roof penetrations.
Types of Solar Panels DUST AND LEAVES 2-3 times a year, give your solar panels a hose down. If they are dusty or
dirty, their performance will drop.
Components
SHADING If there are trees around your house, check that they aren’t shading your panels.
Types of Solar Systems Shade on your panels will reduce their performance and power output.

Water Before you buy – Optimizing Your House
Sizing and Costing You can reduce your energy demand by taking a few simple steps.
Installing LIGHTBULBS Replace your regular incandescent light bulbs with a compact fluorescent light bulb
(CFL.) Compact Fluorescents use about 60% less energy than a regular bulb. By simply using this
Payback Time bulb in place of a regular household bulb, you can save up to $60* per bulb in the costs of energy
over the course of the bulb’s life.
Solar Rebates
Here’s a site the calculates your savings per year for doing the switch:
Maintanence & Before You Buy Light Bulbs America
Solar Buyer’s Checklist ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES One way to check for this is the energy star rating system.
Here’s a USA government website where you can find energy efficient appliances: Energy Star

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You can also look for the energy star logo on appliances in stores.
Appliances with this sticker have met the energy efficiency guidelines set by the EPA and US
Department of Energy.

PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN If you are building a house, design for passive solar heat gains.
Here’s an article on solar house plans describing the principles behind this.
INSULATION This cuts down on heat losses and your heating bill. Many states have grants in
Components
place for improving your house’s energy efficiency. Some programs will even put extra insulation
into your house for free. Check DSIREUSA.org for details. Look up ‘energy efficiency rebates.’

Water
Sizing and Costing
Installing
Payback Time For discounts on solar panels and more free information on going off
the grid, click here to visit the Alternative Energy Store
Solar Rebates

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12
Solar Buyers Checklist (for USA)
This is a quick checklist to fill out before contacting with solar power installers and suppliers.
• Check that part of your roof that faces south is unshaded from 9am-4pm. (Actually, facing
south is best practice in the Northern Hemisphere. However, you can get away with 90º each
side of South without too much loss in efficiency.)
• Make sure that if you are connected to the grid and can have net metering. See DSIREusa
Components
• Roof area. The rule of thumb is 100ft2 per kW of solar power. So if you want a 1kW system,
Types of Solar Systems you would need at least 100ft2 of unshaded roof.
Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot • Check your annual sunlight. Less sunny states like NYC and NJ have many solar installations.
Water Solar power can work in less sunny areas as well.
Sizing and Costing • An important thing is to own your own house, or be planning to buy one. Solar panels can be
fitted onto existing houses. They are easily integrated into new houses. However, they are a
Installing long term investment and cannot be easily transported. If you don’t own your own house, and
want to explore solar energy, then you might want to look at portable solar panels.
Payback Time
• Check that your length of warranty will guarantee my solar power investment – 20-25 years for
Solar Rebates solar electric.
Maintanence & Before You Buy • Look for competent solar installers in an approved directory – a good place to start is:
Find Solar - Directory of Pre-Screened Solar Professionals
• Check what rebates are available to you and how to claim them

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DISCLAIMER The information contained in this manual is based on sources and information
reasonably believed to be accurate as of the time it was recorded or created. However, this
material deals with topics that are constantly changing and are subject to ongoing changes
related to technology and the market place as well as legal and related compliance issues.
Therefore, the completeness and current accuracy of the materials cannot be guaranteed. These
materials do not constitute legal, compliance, financial, tax, accounting, or related advice.
The end user of this information should therefore use the contents of this manual and the
materials as a general guideline and not as the ultimate source of current information and when
Components
appropriate the user should consult their own accounting, construction or other advisors.
Any case studies, examples, illustrations cannot guarantee that the user will achieve similar
results. In fact, your results may vary significantly and factors such as your climate, house site
and many other circumstances may and will cause results to vary.
Water
PRIVACY POLICY I never sell, rent, trade or lend any information about my subscribers
Sizing and Costing
to anyone, for any reason, whatsoever. I assure you that your privacy is respected and well
protected.
Installing
Payback Time
Solar Rebates

Solar Electric Panel Manual

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What is Solar Electric Energy

Types of Solar Panels

• How to maintain your solar panel system

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 2 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 3 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

page 4 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

What is Solar Electric Energy

Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot

Maintanence & Before You Buy

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 5 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

So if there is a power cut,

you will only have power if it is sunny outside and

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 6 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

GRID TIED WITH BATTERIES

The grid tied with batteries

page 7 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot

page 8 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Solar Rebates Increases Value of Your Home Yes Yes

page 9 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

What is Solar Electric Energy

page 10 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

This video shows a simple way to size a solar power system.

Types of Solar Panels Costing Your Solar Electric Panel System

Installing Cost Factors that you control:

page 11 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Types of Solar Panels The reasons for this are threefold:

page 12 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot

page 13 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

The average cost for electricity in America is $0.10 per kW.

page 14 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Types of Solar Systems

page 15 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot

page 16 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

What is Solar Electric Energy

Solar Electric vs. Solar Hot

Sizing and Costing

Maintanence & Before You Buy

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 17 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

page 18 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

Maintanence & Before You Buy

Solar Buyer’s Checklist

page 19 ©Solar Trading Post LLC 2008 Solar Trading Post

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