Why No Modular Solar Systems?

eneryglover — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:41:35 +0000

In the early days, 1950’s of air conditioning, contractors purchased a compressor, slab coils, a water pump, a redwood cooling tower and a mess of pipe and electrical components. The compressor was installed in the garage, the slab coils were fitted on top the furnace to form an A coil and the water tower and pump were installed in the alley.

Today all these components are packaged into units that can be installed in hours.

Solar manufacturers would be wise to build modules that are as close to plug and play as possible. Many residents motivated to get off the grid without economic justification would purchase a module to run the lights this year and another for the dishwasher and clothes washer next year.

The price of rooftop solar panels has fallen drastically, but for some homeowners, the upfront costs remain prohibitive. One way to move more modules would be to put smaller arrays on homes. If financial constraints are a consideration, why make us save for years to put dozens of panels on our home when you could put just one or two now?

Package a solar panel, micro inverter, storage battery with the hardware. Size the units to handle 400, 600, 800 or 1000 watts and match the system to a dedicated lighting circuit or appliance

EnerygLover » Solar PV

Why No Modular Solar Systems?