Does the time of day that you use electricity change the design of a solar power system?

We understand that putting solar panels on roofs is not a simple task. Our team takes into account various factors to ensure maximum benefit to our customers. We analyse their energy consumption patterns to match the solar panels with their requirements. For instance, a growing family may require more solar panels on the west roof to cater to their evening energy consumption. Similarly, if there are feed-in tariffs that are greater in the afternoon, we may suggest installing solar panels on the western roof.

Time of day is a crucial aspect that we consider while installing solar panels. We do not follow the traditional solar equation of installing panels on the north roof for maximum sunlight hours. Instead, we analyse the customer's energy usage pattern and suggest the best orientation for the panels. We provide systems that suit the present and future needs of our customers and ensure that they make the best use of solar gain. Our team does not believe in flogging unnecessary products and provides the right system size for each household.

We're definitely not just putting panels on roofs willy-nilly. We are definitely looking at when they're going to be using them, and where they're going to get the maximum benefit. We're trying to match it up with their consumption as best we can, or their future consumption requirements. So potentially we might be looking at a growing family. At what time of day will they be coming home into their house, and who don't necessarily want to put everything on North roofs, we might want to put more on the West roof. There are other factors sometimes not within our control, but for example, if we have a feed-in tariffs that are greater in the afternoons, perhaps having it on the Western roof is a better option. And even East roofs, we might look at East roofs. If they have a family and there's a big usage in the morning in that period before mid day, well, despite it not being the best orientation for maximum yield during the day, it might be the right orientation for this particular family.

The time of day is a very important consideration. The traditional solar equation might suggest that that goes on your North roof, get the maximum amount of sunlight hours. That's not always the best situation if you're going off to work and not using electricity during the day. Sometimes it's best to orient those on the West or even the East roof and make use of the sun that's coming in the morning and the afternoon, before you go and when you come back from work. That being said, if you consider ways of being able to put your usage into the daylight hours. So if you can programme your dishwasher or your washing machine to come on during the day, there is definitely a way of making best use of the solar gain, rather than feeding it back into the grid, the feeding tariff being less than the charge. We are certainly not in the business of putting on systems that we don't believe are the right system for the house, whether it be that now for their present needs or for their future needs.