Residential solar panels are available to fit every need these days, whether you want to harness the sun’s energy to power a backyard fountain, to heat your hot water, or to power your whole house. Of course, depending on your needs, you will be looking at different sizes of solar panels, and maybe even the possibility of setting up an array of several panels.
One of the most important things that you will need to look at is the placement of your solar panel. For best results, you should place the panels in an area where they will be facing in a southerly direction. For whole house needs, residential solar panels are usually mounted on the roof of your house. If you don’t have a flat roof surface with a southerly orientation, you may need to consider mounting your panel in a more vertical position, again in a southerly position. There are also products available that will change the direction your panel is facing throughout the day, so as to maximize the potential of the collectors, but these add another level of complication due to their mechanics of movement.
Sizing of your solar panel is also very important. If you are looking for a residential solar panel to heat the hot water supply for your house you will have to keep in mind that you will need to collect enough energy to take you through peak usage periods, as well as to accommodate for extra heating requirements during cold weather months and the possible expansion of your family size. The very first thing to determine is the size of the tank that you will need, and the number of people that are expecting to be served from this tank. Usually you would calculate your needs based on your daily usage and then estimate the amount of energy required to provide a day’s supply of hot water.
As technology improves and energy costs skyrocket, more and more people are turning to solar energy to fill part or all of their household energy needs. It used to be that you were a maverick if you were looking at implementing solar technology into your household, but these days many governmental organizations provide very useful information and sometimes even incentives to get you started. If you need assistance calculating the size of the residential solar panel that you need, its placement, or to estimate the amount of energy that you will require, there are many online resources available that are quite accurate and reliable.