Preparing for your solar install in the building planning stage has clear benefits
If you are thinking about installing solar power in your new home, we highly recommend you start planning for it. The following tips will save you money and time, by getting your solar installation right, from the start.
Check list questions:
| Pre Installation |
|
| Optimize & Avoid shade |
|
Pre installation
Pre-wire/rough-in service
It is a simple process & the finishing result looks aesthetically better when the solar system cabling is prewired before your walls are gyprocked. Solar cable rough-in/prewire will also make life much easier for your solar installer, saving them time and saving you money.
Get an electricity meter
We also recommend you consider installing a solar-ready electricity meter right from the start, so you will not need to replace it or have it reconfigured when the time comes to connect your solar power system.
Switchboard location
You should plan for the inverter to be located next to the switchboard or as close to the switchboard as possible. This reduces cable runs & efficiency losses.
Little tip: A Garage or protected undercover area are both ideal locations for solar inverters.
Wi-Fi connection
Make sure you are able to get a stable WIFI connection for the property at the spot where you want your inverter to be installed. If you are not able to do so, you may want to organise a data cable to be prewired to the planned inverter location. Your solar installer can then hardwire your solar production monitoring to your internet connection, ensuring no monitoring dropouts due to a weak WIFI signal
Grid Connection
Is your solar installation going to be connected to a single phase or 3 phase power supply? You may want to consider going with 3 phase power as you are less likely to be limited by the electricity distributor regarding the size of the solar system & the amount of power the system can export to the grid.
Roof Design
Orientation of the solar panels
Most of the time, a North facing configuration will enable your solar panels to capture the most sunlight. A clean roofline so panels can be installed in long straight rows is ideal and can result in better production.
East & West facing orientations are also suitable for panel installation.
If you are planning a home with a flat roof, don’t forget to consider that you may want to position your solar panels on tilt frames for efficiency purposes & to reduce the need for manual cleaning.
Avoid Shadow
Are you are considering having any other equipment installed on the roof, such as antennas, satellite dishes, vents & skylights? If so, plan for these objects to be installed on the Southern roof where possible, in a position where they will not cast shadowing on the solar panels.
Before having your solar panels installed, it is also important to consider if there may be areas of your roof which will be subject to shading from surrounding trees or neighbouring houses, as this will ultimately affect the production of your solar system. If there is going to be minor shading issues, you may want to have power optimisers installed with the panels to improve overall system performance.
