Before you bring the solar to your home

Posted by Rays Power
2
Sep 26, 2016
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The last decades or so has witnessed an increasing emphasis of the governments across the globe making efforts to harness the power of the sun for electricity generation. More recently, factors like ever increasing power demand left unfulfilled by conventional sources of power, pressure on environmental resources have made the economies realize that solar energy is the way to achieve energy security. And now the last mile of the value chain i.e. the end user has also understood its benefits and started opting for solar power systems for homes. Having started with solar water heaters the trend has now moved on to full-fledged systems to meet the total electricity requirements.

This momentum towards solar power systems for homes is mainly due to the global fall in prices of the photo voltaic cells which are used in rooftop installations. It brings the initial investment down. Further, the support, guidance, and promotion from the government agencies made the things a lot easier. 


A quick checklist

Here are a few important points to consider before you decide for the solar power systems for homes:

  1. Know your electricity requirement: Evaluate your daily electricity demand and more importantly optimizing your energy usage by preferring energy saving devices like CFL to be replaced by LED bulbs, going for five star rated appliances, etc.
  2. Costs: Estimate the costs of total set up and add to it the recurring costs of maintenance. Try to figure it out whether in the long run; it is a wise decision to take or not.
  3. Sufficient space for panel installations: Proper space and direction be made available for your mini solar power plant. If going for the rooftop installation, the strength of the structure is also a consideration.
  4. Panel Efficiency: Panel efficiency regarding power output varies, and it is advisable to go for costlier but highly efficient panels if the space for installation is limited, which is likely the case in homes.
  5. Which panels and inverters to buy: There are numerous companies to choose from, but it is advisable to get some inputs from the consumers or the web forums. The government’s nodal agencies can also guide in this matter.

Whether the chosen solar power systems for homes is battery backed or grid interactive, the actual payback time is somewhere between five to seven years with the cost of Rs, 190 in battery backed and Rs 100 in the interactive grid system.  So the wise thing would be to get the calculations right.

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