If you’re interested in exploring a solar energy system for your home in Northern Virginia, we would like you to consider why you are exploring your options. There are many benefits to going solar but first for Prospect Solar to help you, we need to understand your reason.
Would you like to reduce your utility bill?
Is solar cost effective?
Is my roof suitable for solar?
Would you like to do your part in helping save the environment?
Or perhaps someone in your neighbor has gone solar and you’re just curious. Once we understand what you would like to accomplish with solar, we can personalize a system to your exact needs.
Knowing if Northern Virginia Solar Panel Installation is Right for You
Solar for residential customers is a great opportunity to utilize unused roof space. The second step in researching solar is to understand some features about your home. As an Engineer, I can guide you through a couple easy steps for you to understand if your home is suitable for solar.
Depending on the design of your home, your roof may be ideal for solar installation. The ideal home would have a south facing orientated roof to capture the maximum sun light from sun rise to sun set. A home with both an East and West facing orientated roof can still provide an opportunity. The east facing roof would capture morning sun light while the west facing roof would capture the afternoon sun.
Shade and Other Obstacles to Consider for Northern Virginia Solar Installation
Next, we would consider any obstacles on the property or roof that would create shade. Trees and chimneys that cast shadows on the roof will reduce the efficiency of your solar panel system in the Northern Virginia area. Most solar arrays are strung together with 6-8 panels; if shade is cast on any of those panels the entire efficiency of the string is reduced. This is not a deal breaker, there are solar panels that can be strung together but work individually. This will take into account shade on certain panels during specific times of the day.
Finally, roof obstructions, such as skylights, dormers and roof vents, create obstacles and need offsets for access which will reduce the size of the array. In the event that your skylights, dormers or roof vents may have issues, not associated with solar, a repairman would need to have a workable space to fix any problems that may come up.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the beginning process, a quick look on Google Maps in Earth view, can give you a good idea if your home is ideal for solar. If your home seems like a good fit, we at Prospect Solar would love to help you better understand solar installation for your home in Northern Virginia. A quick phone call or meeting with us can help you though the process of incorporating solar energy into your home. Please feel free to contact us.