If you own your home, installing solar panels on your roof is a sound financial decision in almost every state in the nation and Minnesota is no exception!  Many homeowners are unfamiliar with solar and are unsure exactly how to “go solar” – so here are a few tips:

Understanding the suitability of your property – the sun shines just as strongly throughout your City…but your home or building will have a different level of suitability for a solar pv installation depending on things like the building’s orientation, roof type/slope, and the presence of solar obstructions – things that cast shadow on your rooftop at the wrong times.  A great first step is to explore the overall suitability of solar for your property.

Explore the payback – a key consideration for going solar is often what the economic payback might look like.  How cost effective solar might be for your home or business is a combination of many factors.  Use this solar panel calculator to quickly estimate your solar potential and savings by address.

Get more detailed – As you dig in more deeply, you might want to try different solar array sizes to find the size array that gives you the best benefit. This tool will help you estimate the energy production and cost of solar pv systems at different sizes for your property.

To Own or Not To Own - Solar pv ownership is typically a great long-term investment.  Out-right purchase of solar arrays may not always be the best option for some of us though.  Luckily there are ownership options including solar leases or power purchase agreements.

If at first you don’t succeed - some of our properties are just not the best fit for solar. Or perhaps we just are not interested in having solar on our home for one reason or another. Don’t fear - there are other options. In fact, in this instance, the options that are available to renters could be a great fit.

Ask for help - paleBLUEdot is a leading provider of independent renewable energy assessments for individual sites as well as community-wide potential. If you need help exploring the solar potential for your building feel free to contact us. We’d enjoy helping you!