Sunlight is available plenty for everyone and installing a residential solar system is the only way to harness the natural energy into our lives. Solar panels are the devices that draw the thermal energy from the sun and convert them into usable electric energy.
If you are planning to be an upstanding citizen who wants to go solar to make a better future for the upcoming generations then this blog can help you. In this article, we will discuss the most common mistakes that many homeowners make while installing residential solar panel systems in Dubai.
1. Confusing Off-Grid And Grid-Tie Solar
Solar energy enables you to generate your electricity. This means you don’t have to pay for the power you utilize from the utility grid. With this, some people assume that they are going off-grid completely. But in reality, most people look for the grid-tied solar system.
Here’s the distinction:
Your home solar power system in Dubai generates solar energy but you will need a way to store solar energy for later use. You can store the generated solar energy in the utility grid if you have access to the power lines. For this, the utility company will credit you for extra power produced allowing you to pull from the grid whenever you need it. To cover it, you will have to choose another method to store solar energy at this time battery bank function substitutes the best. You can use a battery storage function to store the solar energy without needing to pay off extra credits to the utility company.
You don’t need to go off the grid to reap the solar benefits. If your property has access to power lines, it’s better to opt for a grid-tied solar system or solar batteries to store the power and use it later in terms of need. If you cannot afford solar batteries, you can opt for a grid-tied solar system as an option.
2. Improved system sizing
Sizing a solar system is more complex compared to its face value. If you are starting with your research you might think it’s a simple process by looking at your energy bills. But the output of the solar system depends on climate changes, panel orientation, natural efficiency drop, shading, and other external factors.
But you don’t have to worry about it with Wattz! Our techs scrutinize your property and install solar panels for your home based on your location, area, and climatic changes. During the conversation, we plan solar systems to account for the variable that most solar installers don’t think about some of the common ones are:
- Climate:
Our solar panels are tested in ideal conditions. In the real world, our solar systems are exposed to harder climatic conditions and high temperatures. These high temperatures can reduce the amount of energy the solar panels generate. Apart from the climatic conditions your location also dictates how many sun hours you get. The term “sun hours” doesn’t mean how long the sun is in the sky. It cites the period the sun stays in its right place to generate peak energy. In most places, sun hours per day are usually 4-6hrs and the exact amount influences system sizing. - Efficiency
Solar panels have an efficiency rating and they suffer a 0.5-1% efficiency drop every year. your panels will more likely be 10-20% less efficient every 20 years after you install them. We at Wattz design an extra headroom into your solar system to account for the loss of energy. - Voltage
Charge controllers and Inverters have minimum and maximum voltage input windows. Solar panels consist of voltage ratings as well. For better throughput, your solar system needs to be designed at the right voltage based on its requirements and the equipment used. If you don’t have the right voltage in your battery bank or solar system, there can be chances that your system might not perform well or you could even damage the hardware.
3. Building A Frankenstein System
Having parts of the solar system is not just enough. You must have the right parts that get compatible with each other.
For example, let’s talk about the phone call our solar panel installer dread. “I have some solar panels and inverter from eBay which I bought a few years back. Can you help me build the rest of the system?
Like this, a fair number of people hold great deals to acquire the parts slowly over time until they are ready to get slapped with all the parts together like some kind of solar-powered Frankenstein’s monster.
Having solar parts which are compatible with each other is very essential otherwise you get:
- Inverters get oversized and do not fit your mount.
- Panels having different sizes don’t fit properly together on the mount.
- Components don’t wire together due to the different connectors
- A box of hodgepodge components that do not support each other because they were from different sources on the internet.
Like this, there is a lot that can go wrong and soon turn into disaster unless you plan and stick to it. There is no guarantee that the parts you buy can work together.
Conclusion
These are some of the costly mistakes you need to avoid as a house owner for your residential solar power system in Dubai. Do as much research as you can before you pull the trigger on a big investment like solar.
An experienced set of eyes can help you catch the mistakes so that you can avoid them before getting late. Always get your solar panels designed by the experts of the industry. We at Wattz have the technical experts who check voltage requirements, plan for inefficiencies, run math on system sizing, and do whatever else it takes to make sure the solar panel system we build is going to work. Schedule an appointment today!