Solar PV installations seem to be popping up all around the United Kingdom. More and more people are seeing and taking advantage of the benefits of producing their own energy and seeing a healthy return on their investment for doing so. Whether their reasons for investing in solar are to become “Greener” or whether they simply want their savings to work harder than they would in a bank or building society account, the attraction of investing in a solar PV system is clearly evident.
The first consideration of a potential solar PV system is what panels to use. Firstly, it’s a choice between black monocrystalline panels or blue polycrystalline panels. Once it has been established how many panels can be fitted on the roof or roofs in question, the customer can then be aware of the size of the solar PV system that can be installed on their property.
After choosing the panels that are going to be installed, the customer needs to decide how they will sit on the roof or roofs that will be used. This is a decision that more often than not is made in consultation with the solar PV installation team. The outcome of this conversation, along with whether or not there are any shading issues such as large trees or buildings, determines whether a string inverter or optimisers are the best options.
String inverters control an entire “string” of panels which means that if any panels within the string are affected by shade, the performance of the rest of the panels will be reduced. Optimisers will isolate each panel individually which will make sure that only the shade panel or panels suffer any drop off in performance.
The panels and which inverter to use are two of the most important factors to consider when investing in solar PV.
