Category: Solar

February 14, 2022

SOLAR PANELS AND PROPER ROOF DESIGN AND VENTING

SOLAR PANELS AND THE INVASION OF THE ROOF VENTS Currently, most solar panels are installed on existing houses; but what a nightmare that can be. Older roofs were not designed in anticipation that solar panels would be added later. Therefore, many older roofs look like this. What a mess! This roof can barely fit any solar panels due to the interference with the vents. — Vents are a solar panel killer! Another problem with many roof designs is a frequent abundance of gables, peaks, valleys, ridges, dormers, offsets etc. These (sometimes superfluous) architectural features limit the number of solar panels that can be installed. Take the pictured roof (below) for example. It is a southerly facing roof with excellent solar potential, except for the fact...

NetZero-HayfieldHouse.com is created to help demystify the design, material selection, construction, and costs of building a zero net-energy, all-electric, single-family house that also preserves the conservation values of the land. Hopefully this blog will encourage others to join in a similar quest. Architects, builders, material suppliers, homeowners and others may benefit from the lessons learned (and suggestions offered) from the perspective of a homeowner who actively participated in and/or led every phase of this net-zero project.