If you are on the hunt for a safe, durable, and long-lasting roofing solution to install a new roof, you may have come across &#;solar roofs&#;. Alternatively, if you are planning to switch to clean energy, you may be considering solar for your home.
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Either way, the answer will give you a better understanding of what a solar roof is and how it works.
As you explore the topic of solar energy, there&#;s one term you will come across frequently: photovoltaic (PV). A PV solar system is a type of power system that converts sunlight into electricity, using the photovoltaic effect.
In short, a solar roof is a roofing system that integrates PV cells into the roofing material, to generate electricity from solar energy.
Solar roofs look like traditional roofing materials which makes them a &#;2-in-1&#; solution &#; a protective barrier that also generates clean energy. They come in a variety of materials, including shingles, tile, and metal roofing.
Here at Roofit.Solar, we offer safe and durable integrated solar roofs made from black metal. To learn more about the advantages of metal roofs, have a look at here.
The main difference between these systems is their relation with the roof.
While solar panels are stand-alone systems placed on the roof, solar roofs offer an integrated system that includes the solar system and the roof. That&#;s why solar roofs can cost more than solar panels in most cases. But they also have many advantages.
As the Roofit.Solar team, we can&#;t be modest about the quality and design of our roofs&#;they combine technology with minimalist Nordic design. A great solution for those who want to renew their roof while going solar.
We&#;ll let our projects do the talk. The photo below is from a Roofit.Solar project from Roskilde, Denmark.
Here is another one&#;Kuusalu residential house, Estonia, .
Ultimately, the choice between solar panels and a solar roof comes down to your needs, expectations, the geographic location of your home, and your budget. Whether you choose solar panels or a solar roof, it&#;s great that you are using clean energy.
In the first question, we briefly mentioned what photovoltaic (PV) is. It is a type of energy system that generates electricity from sunlight.
As the first step in the process, solar PV panels use cells to convert sunlight into electricity. When the sun shines on the cell it creates an electric field across the layers causing electricity to flow.
The panels are connected to an inverter which converts the energy from Direct Current (DC) &#; an electric current flowing in one direction &#; to Alternating Current (AC), where the flow of current switches back and forth at regular intervals or cycles.
This is how a solar system transforms the sun&#;s energy and lets humans fully enjoy it.
To learn more about how a solar home system works, have a look at our article &#;How a PV system works&#;.
To determine if your roof is suitable for a home solar system, there are several factors to consider including roof orientation and slope, available roof space, roof age, and shading.
When evaluating a roof, one of the first things to consider is the orientation of the roof. At least some part of the roof should be facing the sun. This would be good if there are no major obstructions that create a constant shadow.
If your roof faces south and has a tilt angle of 20 to 40 degrees, your home will be a good fit for solar as this will maximise the amount of sunlight. In the northern part of the world, an ideal roof would face east-south-west.
If you are considering Roofit.Solar for your home, then a minimum pitch of 10 degrees is required for both waterproofing and maintenance. It is important to note that our solar roofs can also be installed on building facades.
In terms of available space, a 30-m2 roof would be a good starting point. If the roof is smaller, then a more bespoke plan will be required.
The age and condition of the roof are the other important factors when evaluating a roof for solar. If you have an old roof and are planning to install a new one, going with a solar roof may be a good option.
When it comes to shading, think about factors that could reduce the amount of sun you get such as trees or nearby buildings.
In addition to these points, we also recommend that you check any local zoning or building regulations that may affect the installation of a solar energy system on your roof.
Here comes one of the most popular questions about solar solutions.
There are many factors that can affect the amount of a home solar system can produce.
While stand-alone solar panels are said to produce more energy ranging from 250W to 400W, solar roofs can produce similar or more energy than traditional solar panels. This depends on the design and technology of the products in addition to the factors shared above.
In terms of latitude, climate, and the tilt of the panels and latitude, it is simply related to the amount of sunlight your home can receive.
Side note, please keep in mind that heatwaves can reduce the productivity of solar solutions. According to EnergySage, the American renewable energy website, solar panels are tested at 25°C (77°F) and generally have a temperature range of between 15°C and 35°C.
One of the most common myths about home solar systems is that if there is no sun, the solar system does not produce any solar electricity.
Previously, we mentioned how a solar panel or a roof works. The energy coming from the sunlight is absorbed by the PV cells in the panel or the roof. So, it is true that snowy and cloudy weather can decrease the amount of electricity generated from sunlight.
But that does not mean that there will be no output at all. No matter how cloudy or snowy it is, the solar system can still generate electricity. It will just be less than the summer peak times.
According to general estimates, solar systems will generate about 15 &#; 25% of their normal power output on a cloudy day.
In terms of productivity in different climates, solar panels are more efficient at cooler temperatures. For example, if a solar panel is 60°C hot, its efficiency drops by 16% compared to a panel that is 25°C hot.
To learn more about solar facts, read our article &#;10 Solar Myths and Facts You Need to Know&#; and update your solar knowledge.
Want to switch to solar energy, but also wonder what to do with the excess energy as you may not use it all?
The short answer is you can store the surplus energy in a solar battery.
There are three types of solar batteries that you can learn about here:
Solar batteries are also segmented according to the duration of storage.
Short-term storage refers to an operation that takes only a few minutes. The aim is to ensure that the solar system still works despite a passing cloud, for example.
Long-term storage, as the name suggests, refers to a longer time frame, providing power over days or weeks, rather than minutes or hours.
Want to know more about solar batteries and what to look out for when considering a solar battery? Read &#;Everything You Need to Know About Solar Batteries&#;.
The answer will not be one of the favourites, but there is no shortcut to a solar system quote at all. The cost of a home solar system depends on many factors including the size of the roof, the choice between a solar roof or solar panels, the efficiency of the system chosen, and the company.
In the US, for example, the cost of a single solar panel can range from around $0.50 to $1.50 per watt, before any incentives or tax credits. The total cost of a solar panel system, which includes installation and additional equipment, can range from $3 to $7 per watt, or even more.
On average, a 5kW turnkey project costs around &#;15-30K, but again prices can vary greatly depending on the location and the specific circumstances of each installation.
If you are:
The answer depends on the size of your roof, the amount of energy you use, the solar system you choose, the geography you live in, the amount of sunlight your home receives, and many other factors.
On average, the payback period for a solar system is between 5 and 10 years.
In the US, for example, a solar system can reduce a household&#;s electric bill by 50 to 90 percent. The higher the number is, the shorter the payback period is.
When it comes to integrated solar roofs, they generally cost more than regular panels, so the payback period is longer in most cases. However, they offer many advantages including a 2-in-1 solution, strong protection, increased home value, and lower installation, and maintenance costs.
Interested in some stats on how and how much solar can add value to your home? Take a look at &#;The Million-Dollar Question: Does solar increase home value&#;.
Roofit.Solar offers the best of both worlds, providing clean energy with aesthetically pleasing, beautiful roofs. Don&#;t like bulky solar panels that look out of place? Neither do we. And, our solar roofs come with a 25-year warranty.
The payback period for a solar roof can be relatively long, as it is an integrated solution combining a top and a solar system. On the other hand, a regular roof never pays for itself!
With the rise of solar energy, there are many companies offering solar panels or integrated solar roofs. The answer to this question depends on what you expect from a solar rooftop solution, your energy consumption, the structure of your roof and where you live.
If you are planning to renew your roof, are interested in switching to solar energy, and are looking for technology and design, safety and durability, and are planning to renew your roof, look no further.
The company is the world’s best Solar Integrated supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.
With offices in Sweden and Germany, Roofit.Solar is an award-winning integrated solar roof company, based in Estonia, offering safe, durable, and beautiful solar solutions.
Our solar roofs combine the traditional Nordic metal roof design with solar technology. If you are looking for both design and technology, and need some guidance along the way, we are here to help you.
A lot of people ultimately decide to go solar because the math works out over the long term. But to figure that out, you must first determine what your system should cost up front.
The answer to that question: It&#;s complicated, and it depends.
When Larry Gawel and his wife installed solar at their Lincoln, Nebraska, home in , the system cost about $18,000. The system has since provided for almost all their electrical needs, including heating and cooling. Recently their retirement planner asked for a summary of their utility bills and assumed that the figure they gave him was per month. &#;I told him no, that&#;s an entire year,&#; Gawel said.
At the other end of the range is the Central Florida home of Erik Erickson, Wirecutter&#;s director of platform engineering. To manage hurricane threats and routine power outages, Erik has specced out a slightly oversize solar array coupled to four backup batteries. Capable of powering the home if the grid goes down for a week or more, the system will come in at about $68,000.
The average price falls somewhere in between. The median price of a US residential solar installation was $4.20 per watt in (down from $14 in ), and such a system produced 7.2 kilowatts, according to a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PDF). (That number skews low because California installs the most residential systems, but they&#;re relatively small; other states average above 8 kilowatts.) That works out to a total cost of about $30,240.
EnergySage, a &#;solar matchmaker&#; whose expertise we&#;ve highlighted before, has a detailed chart of state-by-state average costs that may give you a rough idea of what to expect for your home. Just be aware that the results shown there are limited to an average system size installed in that state, which may not match your own needs, and the figures are lower by about 25% than the numbers in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report. In part, this is because EnergySage factors in savings that you can get only if you use EnergySage to connect with contractors in your area.
The federal government will subsidize 30% of the cost of your solar project.
The Inflation Reduction Act of made several important changes to how federal solar tax credits work. For one, it extended the credit for years, until ; it also raised the rebate to 30% of the total cost of installation until , after which it tails off to 26% and 22% the next two years.
There&#;s no cap to the cost, either&#;whether you pay $10,000 or $100,000 for your solar project, you get the full value of the credit.
In a sense, that may be all that you as a homeowner need to know. You have a long window in which to decide whether to go solar, where you can be confident of writing off 30% of the total cost. Your up-front costs will be reduced by almost a third, and you&#;ll recoup your investment that much faster.
Significantly, you can spread the credit across as many as the next five years of tax returns. This option is designed to maximize the credit&#;s benefits, since not every household will owe 30% of their project cost in taxes in the year of installation.
The Inflation Reduction Act also improves certainty and long-term planning in the solar industry itself, said Joe Lipari, vice president of projects at Brooklyn SolarWorks. &#;We always joke and call it the &#;solar coaster&#; because so much of it is really influenced by political whims,&#; he said. &#;What the IRA did was provide certainty that this is an incentive that&#;s going to be here to stay&#; We&#;re so accustomed to, &#;It&#;s going to expire next year. Sign up now. Get it while you can. It&#;s never going to get better.&#; It changes the mindset.&#;
And that should help smaller, customer-oriented local solar contractors&#;such as Brooklyn SolarWorks&#;stick around.
We strongly recommend working with such a contractor, versus a large national firm whose business model, as detailed by Alana Semuels in Time, prioritizes sales over service. (In Semuels&#;s words, &#;National solar companies essentially became finance companies that happened to sell solar.&#;) Tellingly, the first of the &#;40 Questions to Ask an Installer&#; suggested by the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society are &#;What year was your company established?&#; and &#;Where are its offices?&#;
Many states, municipalities, and utilities have their own incentive programs that will further reduce your costs, often significantly. For example, Wirecutter editor-in-chief Ben Frumin got an additional 19% of his solar installation subsidized by New York programs.
DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, makes it easy to find programs in your area using just your zip code. California, Minnesota, New York, and Texas have more than 100, and most states have at least several dozen. You still have to read through the descriptions of the individual programs to find those that apply to you (some have qualifying restrictions, such as income level), but having all of them gathered in one place for research purposes is a big help.
Any contractors you speak with should also be familiar with the programs you likely qualify for&#;after all, it&#;s in their own self-interest to help bring you to the decision to go solar&#;and if they are not, consider that a warning flag. Confirm that the contractors are authorized to submit proof-of-work statements to the utilities and agencies that handle the incentive programs, as well, since you&#;ll need that for your claims.
Installers may offer rates that are lower than banks&#; too, which will lower your monthly payments, though likely not your total outlay.
&#;We try to make sure that we are very transparent with the customers as to what that looks like,&#; said J.W. Peters, co-founder of Solar Power of Oklahoma, one of the state&#;s oldest installers. &#;We have some options that are a 25-year loan at a 4.9% interest. But that loan product actually costs us more money to be able to offer to that homeowner. And so therefore, our cost estimate adjusts our baseline costs to adjust for that as well.&#;
You may find that it makes sense to put up some of the payment in cash. Wirecutter&#;s Erik Erickson carefully considered his options when working out the cost for his system. Eliminating his family&#;s monthly $415 electricity bill was a top priority, and &#;basically I&#;m getting down to $415 a month [in finance payments] if I put $7,000 down on top,&#; he said, &#;which is a chunk of change and was one of the biggest reasons I took a month to deliberate, because this doesn&#;t pencil out without extra money down.&#;
In the long run, it almost certainly will.
The tax credit is effectively a direct price cut on the cost of going solar. But solar installations also generally pay for themselves over time, through a combination of lowering your electricity bills and a process known as net metering.
Unless you plan to install storage batteries, even after going solar you&#;ll use power from the electrical grid at night, when your solar panels are producing nothing. And in high-demand periods&#;often summer or winter, when you&#;re cooling or heating your home, respectively&#;you may draw some electricity from the grid during the daytime, too.
Usually, you&#;ll still get a bill from your utility every month.
But much of the time, your system will produce more electricity than you need&#;weekdays when nobody is at home, for example, or shoulder months like March or April, when your area has a ton of sunlight and you&#;re not blasting your electricity-sucking air conditioner.
That excess power will go back onto the grid for other customers to use, and your utility will give you credit for the value of that power on your next billing cycle. That&#;s net metering, and with a well-designed system it means you&#;ll wind up paying very little for your electricity over the course of a year.
Over time, the money you save will more than cover the cost of the system and any loan interest.
However, it&#;s important to know how your utility calculates net metering, because that&#;s key to figuring out how fast you&#;ll see a return on your solar investment.
Knowing who provides your power and how the utility&#;s net metering works will make you a shrewder judge of contractors when you&#;re seeking bids.
Who provides the home&#;s electricity is one of the first questions Solar Power of Oklahoma&#;s J.W. Peters asks of prospective customers. Like most states, Peters explained, Oklahoma is served by a mix of publicly owned utilities, municipally owned utilities, and member-owned cooperatives. They use different net metering rates and credit structures&#;and some don&#;t offer net metering, period.
&#;We need to know who they have so I can figure that into the calculations,&#; Peters said. &#;We&#;ve seen a lot of kind [of] fly-by-night, door-to-door-salesman-type people coming in and knocking on doors in neighborhoods that know nothing about the utility structure in that area. They&#;re selling people systems, and in some cases even installing them, under false pretenses of what that system will do for those customers.&#; In the worst cases, he said, people have had solar installed, only to learn that they are not allowed to connect to the grid at all&#;so when the sun goes down, their home doesn&#;t have electricity.
Tom Broderick of Flagstaff, Arizona, talked to four installers when he was going solar in . &#;One of them knew what he was talking about&#;one,&#; he said. &#;Some of them said some really dumb things, and I didn&#;t call them on it, because I wanted to give them the opportunity to say more dumb things and find out what they really knew and what they really didn&#;t.&#;
Think like him. Understand your utility&#;s net metering program before seeking bids, and as Broderick emphasized, &#;Look at multiple installers. Get references. Check their business record with the Better Business Bureau. How long have they been in business? Are they certified?&#; Ideally that would mean certified by NABCEP, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners.
Anyone researching this topic has likely stumbled upon some free online cost estimators, such as EnergySage&#;s tool.
Through that estimator, EnergySage calculates your potential lifetime savings from going solar based on your address and current monthly electricity bills, after which it solicits free bids from licensed and vetted solar contractors.
Another estimator, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory&#;s PVWatts, calculates your potential solar-energy production based on your address and roof size.
There&#;s also DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, which lists potential sources of low-interest loans, rebates, and other incentives for going solar based on your zip code.
Such cost estimators certainly help. But the reality is that to truly get a sense of the cost and value, you have to decide what you want solar to do for you&#;what you value most among the many benefits it can bring&#;and then work within your means to get a system that meets your needs.
Absolutely.
You can do a lot of things to lower your energy bills and carbon footprint that, happily, cost much less than a solar installation.
Consider community solar. You effectively pay for panels that are installed at a solar-production facility. They supply electricity to the grid at large, and you get a credit on your energy bill, much as you would with a system you installed at your house, but the household disruption and soft costs are eliminated.
Community solar is expanding rapidly, with annual growth more than doubling nationwide every year since . &#;Community solar has been a major driver of opening market access for folks, particularly people for whom residential solar isn&#;t financially or logistically feasible,&#; said Gilbert Michaud, assistant professor of environmental policy at Loyola University Chicago and policy division chair of the American Solar Energy Society.
At the end of , the baseline year of the most recent National Renewable Energy Laboratory report (PDF), community solar facilities totalling more than 6 gigawatts of capacity had been installed in 43 states and Washington, DC, with a third of that capacity installed in alone.
However, the distribution of community solar is uneven, with four states&#;Florida, New York, Minnesota, and Massachusetts&#;accounting for 75% of it (in terms of wattage) and the top 10 states accounting for more than 90%. Depending on where you live, you may have to do some legwork to find a local project to invest in.
Finally, and for older homes especially, relatively inexpensive upgrades to things like insulation and weather sealing can lower utility bills substantially. We cover many of the options in detail in our guide to home weatherizing. And Michaud pointed out that they too are supported by the Inflation Reduction Act&#;as part of the $8.8 billion Home Energy Rebates program&#;and by many state and local programs as well.
When I spoke with Iain Walker of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in , he brought up a way of thinking about green technology that stuck with me.
There are dollar savings to consider, he said, and there are carbon savings&#;and sometimes the two don&#;t quite add up. A new induction stove would cost him considerably more in electricity each month than his old stove would cost him in gas, he said by way of an example. But its carbon footprint would be much lower, and that in itself is valuable to him.
Homeowner Tom Broderick told us, &#;[My] motivation is mainly climate change and doing something about it at my personal level,&#; but &#;it did matter that through my retirement, my costs would be lower for electricity.&#;
Homeowner Larry Gawel is pleased that he&#;s saving money and emissions at the same time: &#;Both of them are important to me.&#;
Wirecutter&#;s Erik Erickson plans to add an EV charger (and an EV) to his system, but &#;in a few years, after this is all through, because this is the most expensive project we&#;ve ever done.&#;
For homeowner Tom Lee, the initial decision to go solar&#;in Los Angeles, back in &#;was basically a dollars-and-cents matter. He was already doing a major home renovation, so it was a sensible time to get the installation done. The system was not cheap, at around $60,000, but &#;this house was going to be my forever house, so I figured it&#;s a good idea, right?&#; he said. &#;Especially with all this money coming back to me [from rebates and utility savings].&#;
But as time and technology moved forward 15 years, so did his appreciation for what he&#;d done. &#;I feel proud that I&#;m a solar owner,&#; he said.
This article was edited by Harry Sawyers and Ben Frumin.
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