So every major installations goes through the decision making process on the solar panels. The crucial things are:

1. Output per dollar

2. Efficiency (If you have limited roof area)

3. How well they match with your inverter or charge controller

4. How well they are warranted

5. The company’s reputation

6. Appearance

7. Company ownership

8. Manufacturing location

9. Company philosophy

I had kind of decided on using Evergreen panels, but then I read that there is a significant concern about the company’s financial stability.

I’ve discovered that two of the major inverter & charge controller manufactures have great tools tools on their websites to help buyers decide what panels to buy and what solar panel configuration to use. Check out Sunnyboy and Xantrex/Schneider.

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I spent about four hours looking at solar information again last night. There is a lot to learn.

On the Wind-Sun forum I also read about two scams. One that almost set the house on fire.

I also wanted to collect some links to some of the Solar Design tools I’m working with to get a better understanding for my system in Ann Arbor.

Let’s start:

A solar calculator:

http://www.findsolar.com/index.php?page=rightforme

Sharp’s “Clean Power Estimator:

http://sharpusa.cleanpowerestimator.com/default.aspx

A Good Celcius to Fahrenheit table and calculator:

http://www.teaching-english-in-japan.net/conversion/celsius/

A site for determining your solar panel string size:

http://america.sma.de/newstringsizing.aspx

More to come….

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