Solar panels are usually sold with 25 to 30 years of performance promises. But what happens after that, when the warranty language is long gone and you are
Solar panels are usually sold with 25 to 30 years of performance promises. But what happens after that, when the warranty language is long gone and you are
I think it would be expansion signal for most, non? adding 20% more capacity is still cheaper than rehauling the whole thingy, nor is it likely their efficiency will increase that much to save space or whatever reason
Depends on how much roof space you have left and how easy it would be to add panels to the array, I’d imagine.
Do most people go for the full grid independence tho? I think supplemental panels make just as much sense, and utilities forbid disconnecting anyway, so it’s more like if it works it works type dealio
According to Google you need about 300-500 sq ft of panels to power a single family home so it might be simple to start with a 100 sq ft array and gradually build it out to compensate for losses over time and spread the cost. But I’m not a rooftop solar installer
tbh the shittiest part of residential solar is how unsynced it is to work, aside from like boiler, your car is gone during work, ac should be off, fridge eats like 500w at worst, you can maybe use like 5kw (and that’s what, for 30-60 minutes per day?) with boiler at best on your own, you can’t charge car cause it’s at work, and batteries explode costs. so you either go quarter-hog or full hog
Heating in colder climates is probably the big one (at least it is for us). Gas heat should be getting phased out and even relatively efficient heat pumps still need a decent amount of power.
with some shenanigans and thermally massive sinks (say boilers) heating can be intermittently fed, i don’t think a lot of people (some industries might) are bothering with that for now though. (so not heat pumps but say overtly massive boiler with radiator and a fan attached to central hvac system to provide heat as needed, and heat pump as a backstop). plus winter solar efficiency by default is what 40-60%?
Having boilers in the home would reduce the need for batteries but wouldn’t that be a pretty substantial space and safety issue? Something like radiant floor heating or passive solar might be better but that would have to be built in.