Choosing the Components for your Solar System

A solar panel system is made up of the solar panels, an inverter and a mounting system. Choosing the best quality components is vital to having a reliable system, so you should make sure you do your research when solar installers are telling you about the products they use.

Good quality brands of solar components aren’t much more expensive than some of the questionable ones, but you’ll notice the difference when it comes to return and lifespan of your system. It’s certainly worth investing in better materials from the outset so you can have a stress-free experience with your panels.

There are three components to the solar panel system that you need to think about:


Solar panels

Of course, solar panels are the main part of the system. They collect photons from the sun and turn them into DC electricity.

There are simple ways to check the quality of a solar panel brand:

Does the manufacturer have a website?

If they don’t have a good quality website, you may as well exclude them from your search straight away. If the company that manufactures the panels doesn’t have any information online, you’re not going to find it very easy to contact them if you have a problem with the panels in the future.

Have the panels been used in large-scale solar farms?

Large companies will only invest millions of pounds in solar farms with the best solar panels, so if you can find information saying that the brand has supplied solar panels to large-scale projects, you can be almost sure that they are a good panel.

Are their warranties available in the UK?

This is an important one. Make sure that you can get replacement panels if needed during the time of your warranty in the UK for free. You shouldn’t have to pay to send back panels to their country of manufacture.

Power tolerance

The power tolerance is the percentage variation in the panel’s power production. If a panel has a positive power tolerance, it means that the panel will produce at or above what it is labelled. Solar cells with a positive power tolerance are chosen by high quality manufacturers, so it should indicate a better quality panel.


Inverter

The inverter in a solar system converts DC electricity produced by the panels into 240V AC electricity that can be used by the appliances in your home. It also registers how much energy you’ve produced and some more expensive models allow you to connect via Bluetooth and view information about your electricity production.

The inverter is a part of a solar panel system that you don’t want to scrimp on, as it is usually the first thing to fail in a system. You’re likely to have to replace an inverter in a system after about 20 years, and they can cost upwards of £800.


Mounting system

The mounting system is another important part of the solar panel system as it connects the system to your roof.

The best thing to do is ask a range of solar installers to give you a quote for a solar system and ask them the names of the different components. Then you can go away and do your research before making a final decision about which solar panel system and installer to choose.