Most solar companies claim their solar panels will produce at a profitable efficiency for at least 25 years. This means over time, your solar panels will suffer a slight degradation, which is about 0.8-1.2 percent per year of original efficiency.

Solar panels help the environment because solar power is a renewable resource that is generated in the same place it’s being consumed. No need for a power station to burn fossil fuels and send electricity down power lines.

When your solar panels generate more electricity than you’re using, the overflow will either go into your battery or, if your battery is full or you don’t have a battery, will be fed into the main grid. Your energy retailer will pay you for this additional electricity, and this payment is called the feed-in tariff, also known as net metering.

Potentially, depending on how long ago you installed solar and how you paid for it. It might be difficult to recoup all the costs of solar when selling your house within 7 years of installinging it. Many buyers look for properties that already have solar power installed, because they can pay lower electricity bills immediately without installing the panels themselves. The remainder of the loan will however need to be paid off when you sell the home.

Most quality solar panels are designed to be self cleaning in the rain. If you don’t have much rain for a period of time however, they can collect dust, debris and bird droppings that will reduce the amount of electricity produced. So it’s a good idea to regularly check your panels and clean them with a hose or cloth, as necessary.

This depends on a number of factors that include how much electricity your system produces, its efficiency, how much electricity you use, where you live, and the rate you are charged by your electricity provider.

Most homeowners choose to go solar for the electricity bill savings. While this might be the initial attraction of going solar, many do not realize solar also allows you to control your power bill and increase your property value.

Yes, the orientation of your solar panels will make a difference to the amount of electricity produced. A northerly orientation is best, but your solar installer will look at the orientation of your roof and place the panels in the best locations to maximise the production of electricity on your property.

Solar panels will stop generating electricity at night but will still generate electricity on cloudy or rainy days, just not as much as on sunny days. To create electricity, your solar panels need direct sunlight, so whilst it doesn’t need to be a bright sunny day all the time, the more sun that hits your panels, the more electricity is produced.

When the sun’s rays hit the solar panels on your roof, it is turned into DC current electricity. The problem is that your home uses AC current electricity, which is why you need to install an inverter. The inverter converts the DC current to AC current, which can then be used in your home with the excess fed into the grid (or stored in your battery, if you have one).