How to Install Solar Panels Guide (2024 Solar Panel Installations)

1) Complete a Site Survey With an Engineer

Once you choose the best solar installation company for your home and sign a contract, the company will send an engineer to your home to evaluate your current electrical system, ensuring everything is compatible with your intended solar panel system design. They should also inspect your roof for condition — as you might need replacement before installing solar to avoid costly removal down the road — and make sure that your home can structurally support the added weight of the panels.

This engineer may be an employee of the solar company or an independent contractor. Be aware that if you have an old and outdated electrical system, the engineer may tell you that it needs to be upgraded or replaced. This is generally an indication that your new solar energy system will produce more amps than what your current electrical system can accommodate. Upgrading your electrical service should also add value to your home, so it’s worthwhile.

In addition to checking out your electrical system, the engineer will also want to inspect your roof. They’ll need to ensure it is structurally sound and able to support the weight of solar paneling. Also, the engineer will be able to tell you if you need a specialized mounting system, such as for a flat roof. As mentioned above, they’ll confirm that your roof has the 20 to 25 years of life left in it that your panels are expected to last.

A solar energy system will only perform as well as it’s designed, so hiring a trustworthy solar engineer is one of the most important steps in the process. Still looking for an installation company? Click here to get connected with a solar installer in your area and receive a free quote.

2) Secure the Right Permits

Before your solar panel installation, you’ll have a few bureaucratic hoops to jump through. Specifically, you’ll need to obtain all the right permits and documentation to ensure your solar panel installation is legal, meeting all local safety and zoning requirements.

You wouldn’t believe the headaches that can accompany an installation carried out before permits are issued. Just as en example, if your building department finds out that you’ve installed solar without the proper permits, they will very likely  require that you remove the panels and start over with the right permission. While you might save some money DIYing your panels or avoiding permits, you’ll almost certainly end up paying more in the long run if you make this mistake.

This step may sound intimidating, but here’s the good news: While there is plenty of paperwork associated with installing solar panels, the majority of it is handled by your solar company.

You may not have to do much at all beyond lending a signature here and there, but it’s still important to have some sense of what’s happening behind the scenes. Here’s what your solar installer will file for:

• Local electrical and/or building permits on your behalf
• Interconnection agreement with your local utility (in other words, permission from your utility to install solar and enroll in net metering programs)
• Applications for state or federal incentive programs that help curb the upfront cost of solar panels — potentially bringing the national average cost down from $29,970 to $20,979 with just the federal tax credit alone, not including state and local incentives they might find for you

By completing this paperwork, you can potentially secure rebates, tax credits or other financial assistance to offset installation costs. It will take your solar installer some time to submit all the paperwork, and even longer for governmental bodies to process all the information — sometimes several weeks or more.

It’s not a bad idea to follow up and get updates every week or so, especially if you hire a less communicative company, just to make sure the process is still moving forward smoothly. Solar companies are busy with business, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

If you’re ready to start getting quotes from local installers near you, use the links below.

Best Solar Financing

4.5/5

National CoverageManufactures Original PanelsA+ BBB Accreditation

Get Free Quotes

3) Order the Right Equipment

Once you have all the correct permits and paperwork in place, your solar installer will be ready to order your equipment. Note that, by this point, your installer will already have picked out the types of solar panels you need and the best solar batteries and inverters for your home.

This is another benefit of going with a professional installer — they have access to the panel brands with the highest efficiencies and longest warranties. Just for comparison, the peak efficiency for professionally-installed panels is 22.8% from Maxeon, while DIY panels peak at around 20%. In terms of warranty coverage, those professionally-installed brands usually come with between 20 and 25 years of protection for the equipment, production, as well as 10 to 20 years for the labor. DIY panels often have 5 to 10 years of coverage for the equipment and production and no labor warranty.

The equipment decisions are typically laid out in a solar proposal, sent well before you sign your contract. Naturally, you’ll want to make sure you research how solar panels work and the different options available to you.

Whether you want the most efficient solar panels or the most affordable, your solar installer can help you pick equipment that will help you achieve your solar energy goals. Once your solar equipment is ordered, your name will be added to the installer’s queue. Basically, this means you’ll be put on the schedule for an installer to assemble your solar panels as soon as they arrive from the distributor.

4) Get Your Solar Panels Installed

Finally, the big day arrives. Your solar installer will show up and begin preparing your roof, specifically by verifying that all tiles or shingles are securely attached and holes for the mounting rack are placed properly. Then, the installer will place the wiring that’s needed to connect your residential solar system to the electrical system.

After the wires are placed, your installer will place racking, which is used to hold the solar panels in position. The panels are placed into the racks, and the inverter (or several microinverters) are usually connected to the panels.

If you have a battery bank, your installer will also set that up. To learn more about a top solar battery, read this article on the Generac PWRcell home battery.

One of the most common questions about installing solar panels is how long the work will take. It all depends on the size of your home and the scope of the solar panel installation, but you can anticipate a timeline of one to three days in total. If your solar system is properly designed and planned out, this step of the process should actually be the most straightforward. You just need to make sure you’re home on the installation day.

5) Get your system approved and connected.

Once the system is in place, your installer will essentially “flip the switch” to turn it on. Before this happens, you’ll likely need a municipal government representative or someone from your electric company to assess and approve your residential solar system, issuing what’s called permission to operate (PTO).

Basically, this is just a safety precaution, ensuring there’s a fresh set of eyes to validate the wiring and electrical work — another step that could cause a real headache if you try to install your panels yourself. You’ll also need a representative from your local utility company to interconnect the system, which means hooking it up to the electrical grid.

This allows you to keep drawing electricity when you need it, as well as safely feed any surplus energy back into the grid, which can result in credits from your utility company via net metering programs.

Questions About How to Install Solar Panels?

These five steps represent the basics of how to install solar panels. But of course, these are just general guidelines, and specific steps can vary from home to home and from installer to installer. If you have additional questions about how to install solar panels, a good next step would be to seek out the top solar companies in your area and make an appointment for a consultation.

You can ask more about specific solar panel installation processes and what you might expect if you decide to make the leap into solar power.

You can use the links below to get a free quote and book a consultation with a certified solar energy installer in your area.

Best Solar Financing

4.5/5

National CoverageManufactures Original PanelsA+ BBB Accreditation

Get Free Quotes