The vast majority of homeowners who go solar in the United States tie their solar energy systems to the grid with an aptly named grid-tie system. But for some of us, and even more in other countries, there may be no grid to tie-in to. The grid may not have reached the village in Senegal, or your cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And sadly natural and manmade disasters strike, taking out the grid. A solar refrigerator or freezer may be one of a limited number of options to preserve food or maintain vaccines. Some people through no fault of their own are forced to live off the grid. This learning article explains why off-grid solar energy systems may be a good choice.

You just purchased a palette of solar panels for your home and now you have to figure out how to attach them. We hope that you have worked on this issue before the delivery truck arrives with your home solar panels. With solar energy we can power many applications, some tied to the grid and some not, but they all require some sort of mounting application. Most of you have already figured out the solar racking you need for your roof, but if you have some extra space, you probably have also considered securing your solar modules to a pole. In this article, we discuss two different approaches for pole mounts. Solar installers and DIYers can use a solar pole mount by choosing either a top of the pole mount or side of the pole mount.

You are about to embark on your solar journey, and the first thing you notice is that you need language lessons to pronounce the jargon. Terms like monocrystalline do not necessarily flow easily off the tongue. If you know the difference between a solar panel and a solar module (short answer: none) and a solar collector (short answer: different technology), then you may not need this primer, but for the rest of you, please read on. Not all solar energy is created equal and there are essential differences between solar electricity primarily produced by photovoltaic (much easier to say PV) panels, and solar thermal (much easier to say solar heating) primarily produced by solar collectors that heat water on your roof. If you are interested in producing electricity, then you should look at our home solar panels, and if you are interested in heating your water, you should look at solar water heaters.

One question that is almost always asked is, "How can I improve the output of my solar system?" There are two ways of achieving this: either (1) increase your solar capacity by adding more panels to your array or (2) increase the efficiency of the panels you already have. Solar trackers offer the latter solution to the above question, and can improve total energy output of your system without breaking the bank on additional panels. Keep reading to learn more about the basics of solar trackers and if they are right for your home. We at SolarTown understand that there are many decisions that go into purchasing solar panels for your home. What brand of panels should I buy? How many should I buy? What type of solar inverter should I get? What solar racking do I need to mount my panels? The list can go on and on.

SolarTown recently ran a learning article on choosing between a central inverter and microinverter. The learning article received a lot of attention and one manufacturer of central inverters took exception to some of the facts and conclusion of the article. We offered space for SMA to air its views on central inverters. This is an unedited version of SMA's article in response to the learning article. The views expressed are exclusively those of SMA.

When choosing a solar energy system for your home, there are three major components that you need to be most concerned about: the solar modules, solar racking and the inverters. These are big choices and which components you choose will determine the reliability and output of your solar array for the many years that you will have the system on your home. For each major component, there are many choices so you need to do your homework. We have already outlined the major choices for home solar panels in other learning articles, such as whether you should buy thin film or crystalline panels. As for the solar inverters... this is where the choices must be made in the field of developing technologies. This learning article will compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of central inverters and micro inverters.

Home solar panels are maintenance free-almost. A well installed solar energy system with home solar panels can deliver hands-free operation for up to 25 years. Hands-free meaning you don't need to change the oil, maintain moving parts, or apply a coat of paint after a period of time. But your solar energy system will degrade with the passage of time, and its output at 20 years will not be as it was at 5 years. Are there things you can do to keep those panels producing at their optimum level? In a nutshell, yes. The performance of your system is affected by the following factors: sunlight intensity; cell material; load resistance; cell temperature; shading. We will talk about each of these factors in this learning article.

The ability of a solar module to convert sunlight into electricity is module efficiency, represented by the Greek letter eta. If you want to impress your friends, boast about the high eta value of your solar panels. A solar cell's energy conversion efficiency is the percentage of light converted into electricity. This article takes you through some of the considerations relating to efficiency when you are purchasing your home solar panels. But first you need a little science. Let's start with irradiance (you can also call it insolation, which is from the sun, not insulation, which is the stuff you put in your walls). Irradiance is the term for solar radiation striking the surface of the earth at a specific time and place.  Efficiency of solar panels will help you spot a good value for your solar energy system. More efficient panels will be more expensive, but price points continue to improve. Consider this aspect of home solar panels when planning an array.

The rack stops here. Installing a solar energy system can be a challenging task. A home solar panel installation will include up to or more than a thousand parts so gathering the right component parts can take a lot of time researching what each part is and what each part does. One critical component of your solar energy system is the solar racking, otherwise known as solar panel mounts. The solar rack is the hardware under the solar module that secures the panel to a surface in the panel installation. If you don't get this right, then forget it-you are just buying yourself years of trouble. In this learning article, we will focus on how to select the proper solar racking. Don't forget the racking for your solar energy system.

Updated February 27, 2012.  If you are confused by all of the information on solar panels, we wanted to distill what we think are the most important criteria on which you should base your decision which solar panels to buy. This table allows you quickly to compare the various home solar panels that we offer at SolarTown. The table in this learning article allows you to compare the home solar panels that SolarTown carries, and then buy the solar panels that you consider most suitable for your particular needs. We provide a table showing the most pertinent information for the consumer on some of the leading solar modules that are available.

Solar Smackown Results. You want to get wild and crazy with home solar panels. We reported recently on an installation with six, yes, count them, six different brands of solar modules. The home solar panel system has been completed and the array is up and running. So how are the panels faring? Let us compare the results

Thinking about installing a solar energy system for your home, but you don't know where to start? If you are planning on installing solar panels yourself or hiring someone to install a solar energy system, then you need to know what your most important choices are. Looking at all of the different equipment and options can be intimidating at first-even for an experienced DIY-er. This article will allow you to master some of the choices you will face so that you can live long and prosper with your solar energy system. In this article, we will review the elements of a solar energy system and open the door for you to design your new project. Once you have a general understanding of how the solar energy system functions, choosing the right parts will become much easier. This article will describe the parts of a standard grid tie (or on the grid) system

A Solar Module Smackdown in Colorado. This week SolarTown is on assignment in Colorado for a solar smackdown. The residential solar energy system that we are looking at is not large - 3kW - but is comprised of 6 different solar modules. Yes, six different modules. Additionally, the solar installation is using two different inverter types - Enphase micro-inverters and one PV Powered 1100 central inverter. Why do this? Quite frankly, nothing beats a spec sheet like a real world test. In the end most installers are only as good as the arrays they've built. Installers can get stuck on one or two panels and there is much to gain from building a system with off-the-shelf parts and telling the tale.

Many installations into my solar career, my boss asked me to write a piece on the "Installation challenges." There are a multitude of challenges facing the do-it-yourselfer - but the good news is you can learn from my mistakes and install a solar array when the sun's shining, perhaps on a weekend? If you've done any home improvement or are familiar with the aisles at Home Depot, chances are you have the skills needed to install a solar array, and install it well.

Comparing Solar Panels: Many homeowners leave the choice of their solar panels to their installers. We suggest not leaving the choice of solar panels solely to your installer. There are many factors that may influence your decision. It is more than a choice of price versus quality. To illustrate some of the factors that may affect your decision, we have taken some of the panels SolarTown carries and analyzed the specifications for them. This learning article summarizes our findings.

Chances are you never heard of a solar inverter until you decided to place a solar energy system right above your bedroom. And now the installer is telling you about these inverters as your eyes start to roll back into your head. But before you completely fade away, you probably need to know a few things before you can make an intelligent decision. Probably the most important decision today is not what manufacturer, but what kind of inverter: a regular inverter or a micro-inverter. We will demystify the subject of inverters in this learning article.

Sanyo bifacial panels can be used for some pretty cool applications, like porches, awnings and carports. Now one company in Canada has extended the application of the Sanyo bifacial solar panels to flat roofs. This company used the Sanyo bifacial panel on a flat roof with a reflective coating to extract even more energy out of the panels. This article describes the installation and discusses whether the extra output is worth the additional expense.

So you've decided to make the switch: Go green, or more aptly- go solar. Good for you. But where do you begin? At first glance, there seems to be a cornucopia of solar modules or solar panels on the market coming in various shapes and sizes, outputs, prices, and quality of materials and it can be very confusing. So how do you know which photovoltaic panels are right for you? Do you need to buy the most expensive photovoltaic (PV) modules on the market? Or are conventional generic solar modules sufficient for my needs? Your goal in purchasing solar panels is to maximize electrical output and reliability over their life expectancy while minimizing cost of installation. So how do you do this? What are the questions to ask before deciding on solar modules for your home?

Finding the right installer to complete your solar PV project can mean the difference between an exciting journey into renewable energy and an endless stream of problems with your new solar energy system. Knowing what questions to ask will put you on the right track to getting your solar electric system installed with as little hassle as possible.

Today, there are numerous solar photovoltaic products offered from vendors large and small, with the selection growing every month. To the average consumer, one PV panel may appear the same as any other, but becoming a discerning solar buyer will help you choose the most appropriate solar system for your home. With a little knowledge about how solar technology works and what forms it takes in consumer products, you'll have no problem choosing the most efficient and aesthetically-pleasing solar PV system to suit your needs.

Whether you want to gain a small degree of energy independence, live off of the grid, or just do something good for the planet, installing a solar PV system is great way to reach your goals. But before embarking on a solar journey, there are some important questions to ask yourself.