Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016

How Durable Are Residential Solar Panels?

If you’ve ever owned a home, you know that the integrity and stability of your roof is a critical part of the overall structural value of your home. If there’s a problem with the roof, the repairs and related headaches can be a lot to manage (not to mention expensive), so it makes perfect sense to be mindful of what you bolt or affix to your roof. This obviously includes solar panels, which are typically mounted on bolted brackets that attach to the most sun-facing surfaces of your roof. As the seasons change, inclement weather can bring potentially damaging storms – so how durable is a typical, residential-grade solar panel?

When you see a rack of solar panels on a building, it’s easy to presume that they are fragile because after all, they look like panes of glass. The actual solar cells that are responsible for producing the electricity generated by a solar panel are themselves only a few millimeters thick, leaving a glut of space available for insulating and hardening the panel. Most manufacturers of high-quality solar panels use either laminate, acrylic, glass or some combination thereof to add rigidity and stability to the admittedly very fragile solar cells.

The engineering challenge that solar panel manufacturers need to meet has to do with how to make the most efficient solar panel using the most transparent materials that also do the job of protecting the precious solar cells. Urban Solar has experience installing solar panels from manufacturers that have longstanding reputations in the industry, many of them offering multi-year warranties on their products. The specifics of how many solar panels and of what variety you need can be easily addressed by having a no-cost energy assessment conducted; this is something we can help you with after asking just a few questions about your home.

As you go about the process of adding solar power to your home or business, you can rest assured that current-generation solar panels are tough, engineered for outdoor use and able to withstand impressive bouts with mother nature. Some panels are even rated to endure 120+ MPH winds! If you have any questions about the brands we use in our installations, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to share that information with you.