Yash
People are investing in solar technology and installing solar panels in their homes.
We invest our savings and borrow money for buying the right house which has all the amenities to make our life comfortable.
Do you know with a little more investment you can install solar panels on the roof and can increase the value of your home?
Let us see how solar panels add value.
1. Solar Panels give an aesthetic sense
The solar panels on your roof make it look beautiful. Solar panel technology has improved a lot in the last decade. Today, we see sleek, lightweight, and highly efficient solar panels.
When these blue/dark blue/black-colored solar panels are aligned uniformly with a right tilt.
We see a beautiful pattern that adds an aesthetic sense to the house.
This tilt depends on your location.
If you are near the equator, the tilt is less. I mean the solar panels are closer to the ground.
As you move away from the equator, you see the angular distance from the ground increase.
Either way, the solar panels look awesome on your roof.
If I talk about the steel frames or GI frames that are used for mounting the solar panels.
These frames are fixed into the roof by nuts and bolts or by cementing their base to the roof.
And this process does not affect the roof surface when done properly.
Also, the solar panels and the mounting frame are light enough which can damage your roof.
A standard solar panel of size 5 feet by 4 feet weighs around 20 kg.
The weight per ft² comes out to 20 kgs/20
= 1 kg per ft²
And if it stands on four legs (each at 4 corners) of the frame, the stress on the roof is 20 kg/4 = 5kg for each leg of the frame.
Shall I compare it with the weight of an average man?
An average man of 65 kgs is standing on his two legs on the roof.
The weight per leg is 65/2 = 22.5 kgs per leg.
If your roof can withstand your weight then it can easily (which is almost 1/4th of your weight) bear the weight of the solar panels and the frame.
2. Solar Panels produce electricity even during Grid shutdown
In hot summer, people use ACs, coolers, and freezers to keep themselves cool.
These are high-power devices that consume a lot of energy per unit of time from the grid.
And this lot of energy travels through the wires coming from the grid.
Making the wires heat up and eventually break down.
Grid failure is common in hot summer.
When you have solar panels on the roof.
They can save you in this situation.
You get smooth electricity despite the grid shutdown.
Obviously, this is an added value to your home.
In addition to this, you as a home-owner and your home become energy independent.
Your dependence on grid electricity has reduced. You generate your own Solar electricity.
3. Solar Panels improve the useful lives of electrical appliances
The abrupt current supply can sometimes burn the windings and damage the electrical appliances.
Solar Panels generate smooth current.
In a typical solar power system, the solar panels absorb the sunlight.
And convert it into direct current. This direct current goes into the solar inverter.
The inverter inverts this current into an alternating current.
And run the electrical devices of the house.
Electrical gadgets and devices run smoothly from solar electricity.
No extra load on the windings and the motors of the devices.
This improves the useful lives of these appliances.
And you spend on their maintenance.
Therefore, solar electricity improves the lives of the appliances, saves you money, and adds value to your home. The whole process from the absorption of the sunlight by the solar panels to the running of the electrical appliances is very smooth.
4. Solar Panels protect the roof of the home
When the sunlight falls on the roof.
The roof material absorbs some of it and gets heated.
This heat energy passes through the roof inside the house.
And makes the rooms hotter.
In the regions near the equator, the direct sunlight on the roof makes the house hotter. Also, the process of expansion of roof material in sunlight and contraction at the night can create cracks on its surface.
Thus, reducing its life.
When solar panels are installed on the roof.
The roof is protected from direct sunlight intensity.
This reduces the rate and degree of its expansion and contraction. Thus improves its useful life and adds value to your home.
5. Solar Panels make the home energy-efficient
Solar Panels keep your house cool in summer by protecting the roof from direct sunlight.
They check the extra heat energy entering the house through the roof.
This help in keeping the room temperature under control.
The house becomes energy efficient and the home-owner needs fewer cooling devices to keep the room cool.
6. Solar Panels in mind makes your home choice better
If you are planning to buy a new house.
And you have solar panels in mind for your new house.
Then it can make your choice better and more refined.
For the people living in the Northern hemisphere, the solar panels should face the South direction.
This direction helps solar panels to trap the maximum sunlight and produce current.
Where there is good sunlight, there are solar panels to produce current.
You’ll look for a home that receives good sunlight from sunrise to sunset.
There is no high-rise building surrounding your home which can obstruct the sunlight from falling on the solar panels.
When you consider these points while buying a new house.
The value of your home will be more.
Who doesn’t want a home which is well-lit, and open, with no high-rise building nearby? Therefore, solar panels refine your home-buying thinking and you search for a high-value home for yourself.
7. Solar Panels help in preserving the environment
It is the most important benefit that Solar Panels give to the owner.
The process of absorbing the sunlight by the solar panels and the production of electricity is emission-free.
There is no pollution in this conversion.
A 5-kW solar power system has the potential to reduce over 7 tonnes of CO₂ in the air.
Solar helps in preserving the environment
Your home becomes a mechanism to create voluntary carbon credits through sustainable solutions such as Solar Panels.
1 carbon credit has the capacity of offsetting 1 tonne of CO₂ or the equivalent greenhouse gases from the air. You can sell these carbon credits to those who are in need of it.
If you’re interested in knowing the whole mechanism of carbon credits then please go through my post:
“What are carbon credits and how solar can help in it?”
The carbon credits are traded on the platforms just like stocks are traded in the stock market exchanges.
IEX has formed a 100% wholly owned subsidiary in the name of International Carbon Exchange Limited to facilitate the trading of voluntary carbon credits.
Therefore, solar panels add value to the home by producing clean and smooth solar electricity.
8. Utilize the roof space under the System
If you are planning to install solar panels at a good height from the roof.
Then you can use the space below the solar panels.
There are plants that grow well even under the shade.
You can place these plants under the shade and make use of that space.
Some of the plants that grow well under shade are:
- Golden Fern
- Money Plant
- Calathea
- Aglaonema
- Umbrella Palm
Thus, adding value to the roof and your house.
9. Solar can charge your EV
Electric Vehicles are gradually replacing the conventional vehicles running on the roads.
There is a big reason for this.
Conventional vehicles which run on Petrol/Diesel emit carbon emissions.
This pollutes the environment.
When carbon emissions are increased beyond a certain limit.
It starts affecting the ecosystem in a negative way.
Climate change and global warming are the results of these emissions.
The consequences are many.
Let me highlight the ones we are experiencing:
Melting of glaciers, droughts, floods, and migration of humans, animals, and birds.
It is high time to look for sustainable solutions which can reduce this effect.
Using EV is one of them.
The EVs are environmentally friendly.
The cost of charging an EV is very less when compared to the cost of fuelling a conventional vehicle of similar capacity. I am sure if you are planning to have a vehicle in future.
Then owning an electric vehicle would be one of the options.
Top EV manufacturers are:
- Tata Motors
- Mahindra & Mahindra
- MG
- Hyundai
- Ather
And
Do you know the Solar Panels of your home can charge your EV?
Also, the cost of charging the EV with solar is less than that of charging it with grid electricity.
The public EV charging stations are few. Although these are increasing in numbers. The solar panels can give the comfort of charging your EV at home and add value to it.
10. Solar Panels feed extra units to the Grid
A 5-kW solar power system in India will produce energy something like shown below:
The daily energy requirement is 19340 W-hr (shown by the blue line)
Or
19 units.
You can see that in the months of March, April, May June, and July.
The energy produced by the solar panels is more than required by the homeowner.
This excess energy can be fed to the grid through Net-metering.
Net-metering is a provision that keeps an account for the solar units fed to the grid.
The extra units fed to the grid are deducted from the total units consumed and the home-owner’s energy consumption bill is reduced. Therefore, solar panels with a provision of Net-metering add value to homes by reducing the overall grid electricity consumption.
11. Solar Panels make your home a money-saving machine
The solar panels in your home can save you tons of money over their lifetime.
A 5-kW solar power system in India can save you over Rs. 22 lakhs in 25 years.
Giving you an annual return of 18%.
This system can bring down the cost of solar electricity to Rs. 2.5 per unit.
This system pays you back in 8 to 9 years.
Solar panels make your home save money year after year and add value to it.
Conclusion
It becomes evident that solar panels add value to your home. But to get the maximum benefit from solar panels, the following points should be kept in mind.
- First, evaluate your energy needs carefully for the right sizing of the solar panels. This is done by selecting the electrical appliances that you want to run on solar power.
- Second, find the average number of hours you want to run these devices on Solar.
- Find the Peak Sun Hours in your location. The sunlight intensity plays an important role in sizing solar panels for your home. In good sunlight, fewer solar panels can meet your energy needs.
- Thereafter, consider the losses in the solar power system. Ignoring the losses in the system may not meet your energy needs, you get an under-sized system. These losses could be:
- Shading losses
- Dirt loss
- Temperature loss
- Conversion loss
- Transfer loss and more…
5. The technology of solar panels is important for getting power output. Today, we see solar panels with the latest technology such as Mono-PERC solar panels, Half-cut solar panels, and Bi-facial solar panels. These latest solar panels produce more power even in a limited space. These solar panels are efficient and have fewer losses.
6. The right tilt makes the solar panels absorb the maximum sunlight and hence run your electrical appliances smoothly. The tilt of the solar panels depends on your location.
Determine the feasibility of Solar Panels for your home
The solar power system is an investment that requires a good amount of money initially. The homeowners want to know the return a solar power system offers with a different Debt-Equity mix.
- What is my return when I invest 100% equity in Solar?
- What it would be when the Debt: Equity mix is 50:50 and more?
Therefore, it becomes important to know the financial feasibility of the solar power system beforehand.
My Solar Feasibility Spreadsheet helps with this.
It sizes, designs, and finds the financial feasibility of the solar power system.
Therefore, a rightly sized system with attractive return adds great value to your home.
Thank you
See you in the next post
Yash
