panhead
Well-Known Member
Ive been holding off on posting until i had something constructive to post,im not a solar expert im just an old guy who's trying to get bang to buck ratio by using solar & asking questions,here goes.
There are some limitatations to our home that i did not post in the thread because i did not think they were relevant & they required alot of explaining,at first i had planned to mount any & all solar panels at the rear of our home,the 2nd story has a walk out deck that we rarely use,this is where i had planned to install the panels,i can only use that location if we butcher all the surrounding landscape because the deck area is heavily shaded by large oak trees,we cant simply prune a few tree limbs to bring in sunlight to the deck area,this means heavily cutting very large oak trees to the point they will not have any shape left to them & drastically changing the look of our landscape,this is not going to happen because my whole street is covered in large oak trees plus the trees that would need to be cut are shared by our neighbors,i own the trees but the neighbors do like the fact that their yards recieve alot of shade from our trees,cutting these trees would make my home stick out like a sore thumb as well as piss the neighbors off,the look of the home & landscape are important to us as well as our neighbors.
Option 2 is panel instalation above ground in our back yard,we have enough sq footage in the yard to accomidate the panel count needed but it would require that we give up some things,before i explain these things let me say this,my wife is not healthy,she has RR Multiple Sclerosis,she hurts all the time if she exerts herself but she has to remain active or she will loose the ability to walk,she is under doctors orders to push past the pain & remain active,there are very few things she will do to be active because of the pain.
We have a large vegatable garden she helps me tend to & she has several beautifil flower gardens that she tends to like clock work,no matter how bad she feels she stays on top of the gardens,the only areas of our yard that have full direct sunlight are the flower/vegatable garden areas,i can put the panels needed in those areas & only those areas because the rest of our yard is heavily shaded by oak trees that are well over 100 years old,i refeuse to butcher those trees & i cant take away the 2 areas of the yard that keeps my wife active,these limitations make a ground instalation out of reach.
Option 3, We have another area for panel instalation which is on our barn,the roof area on the barn has 100% direct sunlight but a roof mount system on that building is not a simple instalation because of the type roof i installed when i erected the barn kit i bought,the roof is a copper standing seam panel system that is a structural system,this means that the panels are the roof deck,the panels are installed directly over the frame work of the joists supporting the panel roof,there is no wood under layment under the roof.
On top of the copper roof being structural by design there is another problem which is the standing seams of the panels,every 18 inches there is a seam that stands up 1.5 inches above the roof,these seams run from the ridge (top) of the roof all the way down to the eve edge (gutter line) of the building,in order for this roof to accomidate solar panels i would have to reinforce areas under the roof where i could then install support columns through the copper roof & above the roofing system,i am qualified for this task but the structural changes needed wont be cheap or easy.
Another thing i had to decide was the look of the roof system,when i bought the barn kit i spent several thousand dollars extra by special ordering the copper roof system,the copper was bought for the way it looks with a patina finish which looks like very old green streaked copper,covering up something i special ordered because of the attractive aspects it offered really hurts & will make the barn stick out like a sore thumb,we are the only neighbors who have a barn,in order to make the barn blend with the home & still be attractive in the neighborhood we made it look as nice as possible.
Another issue with the barn is its location to the home,it is 120 feet from our home at the far end of the property,the distance would add considerable more effort to bring the power into the home,underground sprinkler lines would have to be pulled out & relocated, as well as all power supply cables from the panels would have to be upgraded to underground quality,this is an expensive upgrade & amounts to a considerable added cost between relocation of sprinkler lines as well as added cost to bury underground lines,then re landscape the yard,the barn is out of the question.
Option 4 is a roof mount panel system on the main house,we are very interested in getting as much solar energy as possible but we are only willing to sacrifice so much in asthetics,my roof on the home has enough full sun area to support the panel count needed but we do not want the home to end up looking like some goofy ass Ed Begly mess with shit all over the place,the look of the home remains important to us,we decided to limit panel count to the area of the roof that will draw the least attention,this area is full sun but not large enough to support enough panels for 100% solar power.
Due to all these issues our decision to stick to a lower output system was made.
good luck on your mission and i hope the best for your wife
