Should You Use a Roof Top or Ground Mount Solar Power Installation?

Many Factors Go into Choosing the Right Option for Your Home

Envision adding solar panels to your property. You very likely imagined adding the panels directly to your roof, as is standard in most solar power installations. Not all homes should be going with a rooftop mount for their solar system, though. Even though rooftop mounts are the go-to option, they're not ideal in properties with shading problems or roofs that make solar power generation inefficient.

Your Woodland Hills, CA home may be better suited in that case for a ground mount installation. In this blog, we highlight the reasons many of our clients throughout Southern California opt for ground mounts while also showcasing some common issues with that type of install. Making the right decision is easy when you have all the necessary information at hand.

SEE ALSO: Do You Know How to Get the Most Out of Your Solar Storage System?

When You Should Go with a Ground Mount Installation

Any home with enough area on its property, especially any sort of hillside or slope behind the house, is primed for a ground mount installation. We recommend ground mount installations if you meet one of the following criteria:

• If you have trees or other immovable obstacles creating a shading problem on your roof, which could directly affect the reliability of your solar panels.
• If there is not enough room on the roof either because it’s a multi-level home with a small footprint or one with high electrical usage that would require more panels than space allows.
• If you do not want any visible panels from the street. That being said, Green Convergence offers the most aesthetically pleasing solar power installations in the area by moving vents for even distribution of panels, running conduit through the attic and adding a Master Tile™ installation for tiled roofs.
• If you are already using up valuable roof space for a garden or deck.

Some Issues Associated with Ground Mounts

Even if you meet the criteria above, it's essential to be aware of some of the issues associated with ground mounts before you decide. To set up a ground mount, we need to run wires back to your main service panel by trenching and burying your wiring conduit.

Not only can this get expensive if your mount is far from your panel, but it also means a lengthier installation. In some communities, the need for local approval and environmental sign off will further delay the process, through the Green Convergence crew will help you get those permissions.

Other things about your ground mount location could impact your install. Slopes offer the perfect installation space, but if they are too steep, a geologist may be brought into the engineering process and create added costs. For jobs on rocky solid surfaces, we will have to dig a hole and pour in concrete piers, which will also come at an additional expense.

Our team at Green Convergence will advise you on the best solution for your space. Reach out to learn more about our solar power installations. Set up a meeting with our team by giving us a call, filling out our contact form or chatting with a service rep below.