You decided to take a leap of faith and go solar, but do you know How Long it takes to Install Solar Panels?
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How Long Does It Take to Install Solar Panels?
The time it takes to install your solar panels can vary anywhere from one month to up to three months, depending on many factors.
Why does it take a long time?
The main reason why it takes between 1 to 3 months is that there are many steps you need to follow to get those solar panels installed, from finding the right solar installer, getting the required permit, installation, and connecting to the grid, it will take time to accomplish all those steps.
Factors that impact solar installation times
You won’t have solar panels on your property the day after signing a contract. The time it takes before you’re up and running with solar power largely depends on five factors:
- Your solar installation company
- Local permitting and inspection processes
- Size and type of solar panel system
- Property characteristics
- The utility company and interconnection
Steps and time estimation for solar panels installation
To understand how long it will take to install your solar panels, I will explain the steps you need to take and the estimated time.
Step one: Selecting your solar panel’s installer
This is the first step and the most important one. You need to take your time and select a competent solar installer.
You need to select a good and reputable company to install your solar panels, you can find people in your local area that have solar panels and ask for their opinion, or you can search on yellow pages or google them.
Contact 3 to 5 companies, and ask questions. Here is the list of questions you can ask, pick the company you like the most and sign a contract with them.
This process should take between 1 to 2 weeks.
Step two: Inspecting your house
After agreeing on a contract with your solar installer, they will send someone to inspect your house to see if it is suitable for solar panel installation.
They will analyze your roof and verify if it can support solar panels and the general inspection of the electric installation in your house.
The inspection will take one day, but how long will your installer inspect your house? It depends on the availability of a person who can review your home.
In my experience, this process will take a week and two weeks to complete.
Step three: Sizing your system
After inspecting your house, the installer will need to calculate how many solar panels are required, the size of the inverter, cables for wiring, circuit breakers, etc.
Most solar installers have pre-made templates for sizing, so this process should take less than a week.
The estimated time is seven days.
Step 4: Obtaining permits
Before installing solar panels on your house, you must seek permits. Your solar installation will do this work.
This process will depend a lot on the solar installer’s experience and their contact with your local government.
If the company is very experienced and knows how things get done, it will be faster; also, it depends much on the availability of the local officials responsible for the approval.
This process will take between a week and one month.
Step five: Getting grants and rebates
Installing solar panels is not cheap. Most governments offer grants, rebates, or taxi credits as incentives to push people toward solar energy.
You need to ensure that you take advantage of them. The good news is that this process can be done when seeking permits, so the completion time is counted within step 4.
Step 6: Solar panels installation
After getting approval, the next step is to install solar panels at your house. Usually, this process takes one day.
If you have batteries, it might take two days since installing a solar system with batteries is more complicated.
Estimated time 1 or 2 days.
Step 7: Grid connection
If you want to connect your solar panel system to the grid, the installer will have to contact your utility company, and they will schedule a day when they can perform the activity.
Connecting to the grid should take a day, but it depends on the availability of your local utility company representatives. This process can take up to 7 days.
Step 8: Commissioning and inspection
After finishing everything and testing, the local government will usually send someone from a third-party company to commission the solar panel system. This is to ensure the system meets local electric and fire codes.
This process will take one day, but sending a request for commissioning to do it, will take several days, depending on the availability of the officials.
From my experience, this process will take between 1 to two weeks.
Final words
As I elaborated, you can see that it will take one month to 3 months to install solar panels in your house. Sometimes it can take longer.
Does it worth the wait? Yet, it is worth every time you wait when you start using solar energy in your home. You will forget all the troubles.