Major commercial tire dealers, like the Pennsylvania-based Service Tire Truck Centers, are doing it. Beer distributors, like California’s Bay Area Beverage Company, are doing it. Colleges, like Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, are doing it. Even giant-sized department store chains like Kohl’s are doing it, too. You don’t have to be an environmental studies major or a buddy of Al Gore to read the writing on the wall. Solar roof panels are a smart investment and lower your electric bills by as much as 25%. For many people, it’s less about going green than the color of money.
What Is It?
Light from the sun consists of particles called photons, and photons are absorbed by solar roof panels. The direct current (DC) from the sun is converted into a 240-volt alternating current (AC) at 50 Hertz in the panels’ grid inverter. The system’s kilowatt-hour (kWh) meter keeps track of the total amount of electricity produced by the solar panels. The electricity flows to the main switchboard, where it’s used to power your appliances and heat your home. When the solar panels generate more electricity than needed, the excess power is exported to the grid.
On a cloudy day, when less solar energy is produced, the grid can power the switchboard with its surplus of energy. The grid also provides electricity to the switchboard when more energy is being consumed than produced.
Who Needs It?
Everybody concerned about the cost of energy could use solar roof panels. The more electricity you consume, the more valuable they are.
If you’re a business owner, take the example of Kohl’s. No retailer has been as dynamic as Kohl’s in transforming the thousands of acres of its stores’ roof space into solar farmland. According to Ken Bonning, executive vice president of logistics for Kohl’s, solar panels provide roughly 40% of a single store’s annual energy. (By the way, that’s enough to power over 50 homes annually.)
If you’re a homeowner, outfitting your roof with solar panels will cut your electricity use by as much as 25%. If prices for electricity rise, as they inevitably do, so will your savings. What’s more, all quality solar panels come with at least a 25-year guarantee, so you’re basically pre-buying decades of electricity at today’s price.
Benefits
The technology of solar roof panels is excellent. Since first being introduced decades ago, roof mounting, wire management systems, and performance have all been hugely enhanced. Today’s solar panels incorporate many of the electrical and racking elements directly into the panels themselves. They’re assembled in the factory rather than put together on rooftops, making installation a breeze, and reliability unmatched. You can install solar panels on any type of rooftop, regardless of roofing material or design. Their brackets are height adjustable, allowing the system to blend seamlessly with a home’s architectural style and are virtually maintenance-free.
When financial markets melted down in October 2008, Congress handed a gift to America’s green energy industry. It renewed and broadened a set of tax credits for wind and solar power. The news did jolt one of the economy’s darkest sectors: homebuilding. Or, more accurately, solar-powered homes. Everyone suddenly recognized, as if for the first time, that homes supplied with solar energy saved money month in and month out.
