Solar Roofing Systems

[sanman]

I thought this looked interesting:



What are the opinions on which are the best solar roofing systems available on the market?

 

[Schism]

Subbed.

 

[aociswundumho]

It's insane to put 50+ penetrations in a new roof.

 

[PoS]

Im actually planning to build a house at a beachfront property I own and looked into solar power. After speaking to an engineer I wouldnt bother for the following reasons:

- If you want to divest yourself from the grid, then you have to reserve a whole room in your house for battery storage, and these will degrade over time. It will get to the point where costs of buying new batteries will be more than just paying your electric bills. Let's not forget that these things are a major fire hazard.

- You only get good energy during clear days. Overcast or cloudy days could bring down your generation all the way to near zero.

Those two factors alone is proof enough that it aint practical.

 

[American]

Im actually planning to build a house at a beachfront property I own and looked into solar power. After speaking to an engineer I wouldnt bother for the following reasons:

- If you want to divest yourself from the grid, then you have to reserve a whole room in your house for battery storage, and these will degrade over time. It will get to the point where costs of buying new batteries will be more than just paying your electric bills. Let's not forget that these things are a major fire hazard.

- You only get good energy during clear days. Overcast or cloudy days could bring down your generation all the way to near zero.

Those two factors alone is proof enough that it aint practical.

Install a nuke reactor, much more efficient.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Im actually planning to build a house at a beachfront property I own and looked into solar power. After speaking to an engineer I wouldnt bother for the following reasons:

- If you want to divest yourself from the grid, then you have to reserve a whole room in your house for battery storage, and these will degrade over time. It will get to the point where costs of buying new batteries will be more than just paying your electric bills. Let's not forget that these things are a major fire hazard.

- You only get good energy during clear days. Overcast or cloudy days could bring down your generation all the way to near zero.

Those two factors alone is proof enough that it aint practical.

That assumes the goal is to become grid free, which is not what most solar roof systems are designed to do.

Since there were no cost savings over the rack mounted system, it mainly comes down to appearance (emphasized in the video). Also mentioned was being able to walk on (more of) the roof - but for what?

Not mentioned was heat transfer through the home’s roof into the attic (or ceiling) space. That is significantly reduced with rack mounted systems (due to the air gap between the solar panels and the roof decking) and is apt to be (significantly?) increased by having a black shingled roof.

The solar panel efficiency degradation over time problem still exists with either system, but a rack mounted system over metal roofing (which lasts far longer than shingles) would seem to be the best for the ease (and lower cost) of replacing only the degraded (or otherwise damaged) solar panels.

 

[Spunkylama]

That assumes the goal is to become grid free, which is not what most solar roof systems are designed to do.

Since there were no cost savings over the rack mounted system, it mainly comes down to appearance (emphasized in the video). Also mentioned was being able to walk on (more of) the roof - but for what?

Not mentioned was heat transfer through the home’s roof into the attic (or ceiling) space. That is significantly reduced with rack mounted systems (due to the air gap between the solar panels and the roof decking) and is apt to be (significantly?) increased by having a black shingled roof.

The solar panel efficiency degradation over time problem still exists with either system, but a rack mounted system over a metal roofing (which lasts far longer than shingles) would seem to be the best for the ease (and lower cost) of replacing only the degraded solar panels.

We had solar in our last home in California. With a family of 4 and two teens always connected and me with the washer / dryer, dishwasher, pool etc we always were consuming more than we were producing. It wasn't a good financial decision for us in the end. Just our experience not to say it doesn't work great for others.

 

[ttwtt78640]

It's insane to put 50+ penetrations in a new roof.

It would certainly require careful installation of the solar panel rack mounting hardware, but is not an insurmountable problem.

 

[ttwtt78640]

We had solar in our last home in California. With a family of 4 and two teens always connected and me with the washer / dryer, dishwasher, pool etc we always were consuming more than we were producing. It wasn't a good financial decision for us in the end. Just our experience not to say it doesn't work great for others.

The amount of power used does not change the amount of “free” power generated (added?) by the solar panel system. If the solar system generated excess power which could not be sold or stored then that would be a bad financial decision.

 

[aociswundumho]

It would certainly require careful installation of the solar panel rack’s mounting hardware, but is not an insurmountable problem.

I've seen these systems up close. All they do is put a glob of silicone around the screws.

With any roof, you want to minimize penetrations, as every single one is a potential leak.

https://www.remodeling.hw.net/business/operations/solar-installs-leading-to-screwed-up-roofs_o

 

[Deuce]

I thought this looked interesting:



What are the opinions on which are the best solar roofing systems available on the market?

Thanks for the advertisement link

 

[ttwtt78640]

I've seen these systems up close. All they do is put a glob of silicone around the screws.

With any roof, you want to minimize penetrations, as every single one is a potential leak.

https://www.remodeling.hw.net/business/operations/solar-installs-leading-to-screwed-up-roofs_o

Unfortunately, many construction crews opt for getting the job done fast over getting the job done well.