It is so easy to assume your installers will put the photovoltaic panels in the best place possible when you decide to take the plunge and have a solar power house. However this is not always the case. Most experienced installers will have a mental or written checklist they go through to choose the best orientation for your panels.

However there are some occasions when you might get someone new or the installer might just be having a bad day or a bad month (you don’t know if his father has just died or if he is going through a messy divorce) and not make the requisite checks before deciding where to put the panels.

On most occasions they will attempt to place them at the right angle to maximise the impact of the sun which is facing south in the northern hemisphere and north in the southern hemisphere. However they might not take the shading from trees and surrounding buildings into account. When even a small amount of shadowing occurs it has a dramatic effect on the productivity of the panels in your solar power house. Shading causes the electrons to reverse their course through the shaded part of the panels and this can cause the electricity output to drop substantially across the whole unit. Even shading from a light pole or flag pole can have this effect and of course trees are one of the bigger problems for many people.

A long time resident is likely to be aware of the impact of shading on their house, even more so than the installer. You then need to have a conversation of the pros and cons of your various choices to make sure that your installer takes these all into account when he puts the PV panels onto the roof of your solar power house.