Choosing to perform specific maintenance tasks around your house on your own can be a great way to save money. Repainting a room yourself is much cheaper than hiring a professional painter, for example. But there are also certain types of home improvement that you shouldn’t attempt on your own, as you can make costly errors or even create dangerous situations for yourself. Installing solar power in your home is one of those things. Here are 3 of the most common mistakes that DIY solar installers make and why they can be a severe problem.
Improper Configuration of Battery Bank
For hybrid systems, the battery bank is an essential backup energy source that can further increase your energy savings in your home. If you have an off-grid system, the battery bank a key component of your setup, providing you with a power source when the sun goes down. However, in either situation, your battery bank must be appropriately configured to provide you with optimal energy.
Many DIYers who try to install their own solar will use 12V or 24V batteries. This is primarily because they’re more comfortable with these lower-voltage batteries or because the batteries are cheaper than the 48V Victron Energy batteries recommended for solar power systems. But by using 12V or 24V batteries, you’re limiting the efficiency of your solar set up right away. For example, if you have a 12V system with a 100 amp charge controller, your system can only handle 1200 watts of battery charging at once; but if you have a 48V system, you can have 4800 watts of charging.
Setting limitations on your solar setup’s capabilities from the get-go is never a good idea, and it’s always better to get the maximum efficiency from your system, even if it costs a little bit more upfront.
Building Solar Racking
Some people take the DIY aspect of installing their own solar a step further by building their own solar racking. It may seem like an excellent way to save some money if you’re handy with tools and don’t want to pay for specialized racking. But, more often than not, DIY solar racking introduces numerous potential problems to your system. Your homemade racks aren’t designed for holding panels, won’t be covered by your insurance, and can even lead to roof leaks if you’re installing them on top of your home (as most panels are). Solar racks might come with a price tag, but compare that price to the time, materials, and potential damage associated with DIY racking, and you’ll find that they’re worth the cost.
Building “Frankenstein” Systems
Certain aspects of your solar system can be expanded and optimized later. However, these things need to be adequately planned for and laid out ahead of time. Patching different parts together that aren’t optimized to work together, creating what is known as a “Frankenstein” system, and they’re generally inefficient and can have many problems.
If you want to save money but still want a professionally installed solar setup, purchase your Victron Energy solar products at wholesale prices, then contract with an expert to install them for you so that you can avoid these mistakes.