What is the Best Solar Panel for Your Home?

As energy resources continue to soar in price each year, more and more homeowners have been turning to solar panels to supply electricity to their homes. It is a way to save a lot in the long term and act in a much more environmentally conscious way.

How to determine the best solar panel for your home?

To get the best solar panel for your home, you have to set a few criteria first. Once a solar panel meets all those criteria, you can be assured it is the best one for your home.

1. The Size of Your House

You should choose the power output of the solar panel depending on the size of your home. A small house does not need 10KW power output. While it would not be a waste, it is still unnecessary since the saved electricity would be sent back to the grid. It would make sense for the power output of a medium-sized home to be a 6.6kw solar system.

2. Warranty for The Panel

The warranty can be such a huge factor. It is not only about making sure your panel is covered for a long time, but it is also an indication of whether the panel is of good quality. A manufacturer who is confident in their product and its durability would not mind issuing a warranty that stays for a long time.

For the solar panel’s performance warranty, you want the life expectancy to touch the 25 years’ mark. This is because the output of a solar panel tends to lose heat over time. However, how bad it gets depends on the quality of the panel.

Then, there is the product warranty. This warranty is to cover any and all defects that the product might have while manufacturing. Again, this is on the manufacturer, and typically, it can be about 10 years.

3. Tier-1 Ranking

From Bloomberg, when a solar product has the Tier-1 ranking, it becomes evident that the solar panel is from a good brand. A manufacturer only gets this ranking when it is determined that the business would be here for the long run and would continue to prosper. And you want the company to be around because if they are not, the 25 years of warranty would ultimately be of no use.

If a solar panel has a Tier-1 ranking, it does not necessarily mean the product is good. However, it does mean the manufacturer is good enough to earn the trust, and the quality of the product is unlikely to be dissatisfactory.

4. The Efficiency Rate of The Panel

There is steep competition in the market among the manufacturers to produce the highest output possible. A single panel is now capable of producing 400 watts in the case of residential solar panels. If we were to look back 10 years ago, this used to be a mere 100 watt.

But why is the efficiency of the solar panel important? It indicates how quickly the solar panel does a good job of turning the light from the sunlight into electricity. Considering the length of your roof, if the solar panel is efficient, you would need to install a lesser number of them. A solar panel with high output is also way more technologically advanced.

5. The Degradation Rate of The Panel

The performance warranty is usually an excellent way to figure out the degradation rate. The lesser the degradation rate, the more the warranty years would be. Through advancements over the years, it has become possible for manufacturers to promise 25 to 30 years of warranty.

This is beneficial from a savings perspective. If you only use the solar panel for a short period, the degradation rate won’t affect your savings much. However, if you plan on keeping the solar panel as your primary electrical source in the long run, a low degradation rate would ensure better savings on your part.

Final Thoughts

When opting for residential solar panels, you are better off relying on Clean Energy Accredited Installers.