Attaining a Whole Home Solar System
Attaining a whole-home solar system may be a way to live out your values for sustainability, save money on utilities, or both. Getting your household running on renewable energy is a worthy goal with many benefits. Still, a few questions must be answered to ensure the project is feasible and cost-effective in the long run. How much solar power do I need to power my home? How many solar panels are needed to run a house? Will solar pane degradation be challenging to keep up with?
Luckily, Capital City Solar has the knowledge and experience to supply all the information you need when deciding if attaining a whole-home solar system is suitable for you. Our full range of residential solar services in the wider Sacramento metropolitan area will also ensure you maximize your ROI if you choose to make this significant investment.
What Is a Whole-Home Solar System?
A whole-home solar system is a comprehensive setup designed to provide electricity for an entire household using solar power. The system consists of solar panels installed on a home’s roof or yard, harnessing sunlight to generate clean electricity.
Whole-home solar systems are scalable and can be customized to meet your household’s energy needs.
Whole-home solar system:
Provides electricity for the entire household’s needs.
Typically, it requires a larger number of solar panels to meet energy consumption demands.
Includes a comprehensive setup with inverters, meters, and other necessary components.
Offers greater energy independence and potential for significant cost savings on utility bills.
How Many Solar Panels Are Needed To Run a House?
How many solar panels do I need? The answer depends on how many solar panels are needed to power a house depends on factors such as:
Household Energy Consumption
Available Sunlight
Geographical Location
Efficiency of the Solar Panels
Geographical location and available sunlight can impact efficiency if obstructions, such as tall buildings or trees, are present. Homes near some industrial regions could also experience airborne particles settling on solar panels and restricting sunlight penetration.
Capital City Solar conducts a thorough assessment of every home’s energy needs. It considers factors like location, obstructions, and the type of solar panels selected when installing a whole-home solar system. Once the energy needs are determined, our solar installers use various tools and calculations to estimate the solar array size required to meet those needs.
Some of the critical factors regarding this process include:
Wattage
Efficiency
Roof Orientation (Tilt)
Our solar installers use various software programs and other tools to calculate the optimal size of the solar array. This calculation tells us exactly how many solar panels are needed to run a house and supply enough electricity to meet the home’s energy demand. Part of our comprehensive services include a system inspection and output verification that can be performed throughout the lifetime of your solar system to ensure efficiency.
How Much Solar Power Do I Need?
The amount of sunlight required to power a whole-home solar system depends on similar factors weighed in the selection and number of panels, including the size of the system, efficiency, and the household’s energy consumption habits. Generally, a whole-home solar system needs sufficient sunlight to generate enough electricity to meet the household’s energy needs throughout the day and across different seasons.
Northern California is an excellent location for whole-home solar systems because the climate provides ample sunlight throughout the year. Our location enjoys many clear days with minimal cloud cover, allowing for maximum energy production. Many homes have enough surface area for solar panels to be placed to convert sufficient energy for their demands.
Your household’s energy consumption may be the most significant factor to consider. Our solar services include battery backup installation to add resilience to your whole-home solar system. Battery backup systems can come in handy during periods of low sunlight, power outages, or if you have an electric vehicle that requires substantial energy to charge. Contact Capital City Solar to assess your home and learn how we can deliver a whole-home solar system to meet its demands.
Is a Whole-Home Solar System Worth It?
Converting your home to run entirely on solar power can require a significant investment in time and money. Transitioning to a whole-home solar system could also require households to adjust how they think about energy consumption.
Though sunlight availability is not typically an issue in Northern California, it could be helpful to understand the concepts of limiting energy-intensive activities for times of peak solar generation and considering energy-efficient appliances and practices to maximize the benefits of solar power. Nevertheless, integrating battery storage solutions offered by Capital City Solar has effectively eliminated our customers’ hurdles to adaptation.
The costs of transitioning to a whole-home solar system can be offset in several ways. For example, your home’s resale value could rise substantially if it features total energy independence from the public grid. Californians were early adopters of solar roofing technology, and homes with it are always in demand in the real estate market.
Other ways solar power can give a high return on your investment include:
Reduced Carbon Footprint – Reducing your impact on the environment is a noble goal. For some people, preserving resources for future generations is reason enough to utilize solar energy at home.
Lower Utility Bills – Even when factoring in the costs to repair or maintain solar panels, solar panels can eventually pay for themselves by lowering homeowners’ annual energy costs. How much money you save through energy independence will vary depending on current energy costs and your yearly consumption rate. Nevertheless, our high-quality installations will last for decades and provide plenty of time for your investment to pay off in the long run.
Safeguard Against Power Disruptions – Solar energy systems can protect your household against various costly and frustrating issues that occur when public utility grids fail. Spoiled food, frozen pipes, damaged appliances, lost productivity, and other problems are less likely to affect your home with a reliable whole-home solar system.
Solar Panel Degradation
Will I have enough sunlight to power my house? How many solar panels do I need? These are the usual questions asked when considering if going off-grid with a whole-home solar system will be worth the cost, but you should also factor in the rate of solar panel degradation and maintenance costs.
Fortunately, solar panel degradation happens slowly. Some brands we install are designed to last at least 40 years, while others can last 25 years or longer before any issues develop. Capital City Solar is a one-stop shop for all your solar panel needs, including assessments, installation, output verification, and cleaning and maintenance.
While high-quality panels will last for decades, some cleaning and maintenance will be required throughout their lifespan to ensure optimal performance and longevity. Northern California and the Sacramento area are generally windy and have many trees. Pollen, leaves, dust, and pollution travel through the air and can build up on panels and obstruct sunlight. Dirty panels alone can cause lost energy output of as much as 10%.
We typically recommend cleaning your solar panels at least once a year. Damage to panels from tree limbs, hail, and even animals is also bound to happen within their long lifespan, affecting energy output. No one is better qualified to clean or repair your complex solar array than the people who installed it, and we service thousands throughout Northern California each year.
An annual service is also a great time to allow us to perform a 30-point inspection to verify energy efficiency. Let us install your whole-home solar system and gain peace of mind that you’ll receive expert maintenance and care to achieve peak performance year-round and a maximum return on your investment.
Solar Panels Can Follow You If You Move
Due to the typically long lifespans of high-quality solar panels, it’s common for homeowners to be wary of installing them if they plan to buy a new house eventually. While you could recoup some of their cost by increasing the price of your home when selling, you could also take them with you. The process is simple with the removal and replacement for re-roofing services Capital City Solar provides.
Our company specializes in removing and reinstalling solar panels, ensuring that you maximize the return on your investment regardless of your relocation. And, because solar panels can outlive the roof they’re installed on, our services extend to facilitating roof repairs or replacements by safely removing and later reinstalling the solar array.
Solar roof installations are intricate, and finding professionals willing to undertake removal and re-installation can be challenging. We have successfully performed these services for hundreds of clients across Northern California. Our team has the expertise and tools to handle the process efficiently and effectively, ensuring your solar energy system operates at peak performance when it is reinstalled on the new roof.
In situations where immediate re-installation isn’t feasible, we offer secure storage options for a fee, providing peace of mind during moves or roof repair projects. Our storage facilities are designed to protect your investment until it’s ready to be reinstalled, offering a convenient solution to accommodate your needs.
Don’t feel as if investing in a whole-home solar system will tie you down. Our removal and re-installation services are second to none regarding safeguarding your solar investment and facilitating seamless transitions. Trust our team to handle the complexities of solar panel relocation with precision and care, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of clean, renewable energy wherever you go.
When Will I Start Seeing a Return on My Investment With Solar Energy?
A great benefit of solar power and energy independence is that you quickly start seeing a return on your investment. The initial cost of installing solar systems has dropped considerably over the years, making the technology much more accessible than ever. On average, it will only take a few years before your savings on electricity bills start making you wonder why you didn’t buy in sooner. Also, consider that solar panel degradation is slow, and your system should last 25 years or longer, meaning your savings will have decades to add up to a healthy ROI.
Call Us Today For Energy Independence
Investing in a whole-home solar system brings value and peace of mind. Significantly lower utility bills and the slow rate of solar panel degradation ensure a hefty return on your investment. Our professional team has helped thousands of homeowners around Sacramento and Northern California achieve energy independence. We also provide a full range of solar services, including cleaning, maintenance, removal, and re-installation, to help you feel confident with your transition.
It’s common to have so many questions about this technology that you don’t know where to start: How many solar panels do I need? How much solar power is necessary? Will it be worth the cost in the long run? Our experts will comprehensively assess your property to answer everything and make you see the value of solar energy. Contact us today to learn more about the extensive services and solutions available from Capital City Solar.