With all of the improvements in solar power systems in recent years, one of the side benefits to homeowners is their ease of installation. Over the years both the solar panels as well as the conversion and connection technology has gotten more flexible and easier to implement. Because of this many consumers are choosing to install their solar power system themselves and save quite a bit of money in the process.

The hardest part of installing any solar power system is mounting and positioning the solar panels on the home’s roof. Older systems required each of these solar panels to be mounted individually and this meant that a large array of solar panels required a number of bolts through the roof that hopefully connected with a roof beam underneath. Every one of these bolts held the potential of being a leak point in the roof and had to be carefully sealed to prevent rainwater from entering the home and damaging ceilings.

Newer solar panels are normally mounted on a raised rail system. This makes the entire process easier since only the support points for these rails need to be attached to the roof. The solar panels can then be slid onto the rails and adjusted as needed for proper sun exposure. These rails also require far fewer holes in the roof which means less potential for leaks over the years. The other major advantage that these newer mounting systems afford the homeowner is ease of expansion. Once the mounting system is secured to the roof, it is very easy to add more solar panels to the system later by simply sliding them onto the rails.

The other main component that every solar panels system needs is an inverter. The inverter is responsible for converting the DC current produced by the solar panels into AC current that can be used by the home for its electrical needs. In older versions of these inverters, they had to be matched very specifically to the number of solar panels used and in some cases the actual manufacturer as well. This meant that once a solar power system was installed it was very difficult to upgrade it later if the home’s needs changed. The newer inverters are much more flexible in their ability to be used on a wide range of panel types as well as accepting an expanding group of panels. This means that a system using these newer inverters can add solar panels each year if desired and can even swap out older solar panels over time with new, more efficient models. Even though a homeowner can mount the inverter near the electrical panel, this is the one step in the installation process that needs to be completed by a licensed professional. Tying the inverter into the home’s electrical system requires an inspection when completed and should be something you trust an electrician to help you accomplish.

The last activity involves running the connection wires from the panels to the inverter and this is something that the average homeowner can tackle. These wires can normally be contained in a surface mounted raceway that attaches to the home. The wires are them connected to the solar panels, laid into the raceway and connected to the inverter. If you are uncomfortable with doing this, the electrician you have connecting your inverter should be happy to handle this part of the installation as well.