I am starting to think about solar panels as an option for my home. I have done some research on panels, to be honest its all very confusing. There are many different panels some with 60 watts some all the way up to 20 watts. My household currently uses about 2700 to 3400 kWh every two months. So based off of my power usage maybe you can answer some of the following questions:What kind of panels should I be looking at?Which panel manufacturers give the best bang for the buck (reliable/affordable)?Anything else I should be concerned about?I am just starting out in educating myself on solar power so please excuse me if I sound very naive. Any information that you may have will be helpful. Thanks in advance.
solar cell is a solar cell solar panel are many solar cells.... Typically people refer to a single solar panel as a solar panel, even though they should be reffering to it as a solar cell. A solar panel is a panel of solar cells working in conjunction with each other. I hope that makes sense it is just the incorrect terminology people always use.
Unfortunately, I can't give you a lot of specifics on what you should use. However, I can tell you that the very best system for you simply might not be available to you, in which case it really doesn't matter how good it is. Your best bet would be to talk to a supplier in your area and see what is available, THEN start looking at the differences between those. Unfortunately, solar panels aren't quite to the point of being a common-place product...yet. Another thing to consider would be how old your roof is. You might want to look into the possibility of building-integrated materials if you are in need of a new roof. Talking with somebody who sells the panels in your area will help you understand a lot more than just doing raw research. Get their take on it, then fact check and research what they tell you so you know you're not getting ripped off.
I'm not an expert, but I recently went through the process and now have a system on my home. I got 3 quotes from 3 licensed contractors and they all seemed to be about the same, the prices seemed to be based on the amount of energy they produced. In CA and I'm sure everywhere else they are tested by an independent agency which rates the output of the panels. You seem to have similar usage as my house, I got a 3.75kwhdc unit, it isn't expected to eliminate my bill, but it should reduce it by quite a bit. I've only had it for a few months and it took me from about 45 kwh per day to around 0. I know I'll have lower output in the winter, but my usage is lower in the winter as well. I decided on this size unit to maximize my rebates and I can take advantage of my utilities rebates when I add to the system in a few years. The difference between panels seemed to be how big they were. Some systems can be twice the size and produce the same amount of energy. I put a couple links below that I found helpful. The roseville pv buy down program has some great links that give information about specific systems.
