Perhaps a 280 watt solar panel sounds like a small system, but that depends on your power needs. If all you want is something to give you a few hours of reading light in your summer cabin, 280 watts is plenty. How much electricity you get comprises only a small part of the big picture anyway. While solar is better than fossil fuels, you must consider a number of different challenges when you think about going this route.

If you are considering the purchase of a solar panel, realize that a 280 watt system takes a lot of lifting. Engage professional installers for the task. They know how to get your PV system to the roof safely, how to align your panels with the sun, the best way to secure the item, even which of the location options works best. For example, the roof offers only one possibility.

One of these is the orientation of your roof. Consider how much sun time you get from your roof. This is the most common location where you will find a solar photo voltaic panel. Advantages to this include avoiding shade cast by trees or other buildings, keeping your panel away from damage threatened by vandals or active children with footballs, and taking up little space.

Ground mounting provides advantages too. Your heavy panels need not be lifted up with the use of special safety and lifting apparatus. With an open space and plenty of sun coverage in front of you, ground mounting may offer a simpler installation choice. When neither the roof nor your lawn quite suits, a pole mounted solar panel allows you to get away from shade, adjust access without concern for the slope or direction of your roof, and even permit manual adjustments throughout the year.

Such work, however, can be costly and time consuming. If you have the money and are thinking of joining several 280 watt panels together, think about a tracking device. This method of finding PV energy uses a computer to direct the angle and direction of your panels so as to make best use of existing solar energy during all seasons.

Whatever choice you make, think carefully about location and safety. The weather you get in your part of the world will also influence your choice of panels and installation. Things like hail storms can wreck a cheaply made panel, although a good one will often cope with stones of an inch or less. Make sure your solar system is mounted securely to allow for strong winds which can lift a poorly fastened frame right off of the ground or your roof, potentially taking part of your roof with it.

Then again, you may be taking your panel on the road, and it would make a good size for this kind of activity. Use solar power to make tea in your motor home. Establish solar panels at a summer-use beach house where most of the electricity usage happens at night anyway, giving you ample time to make power during the day and little need of it during the few short hours of darkness.

This option to bank power requires batteries and an inverter. With these in place you can spend all day making solar electric wattage for use later in the day then enjoy the benefits at night. Read by lamp light or watching television. Though a back-up generator can afford you peace of mind if you aim to live completely off-grid, solar power is much quieter, cheaper and environmentally friendly as it requires no fossil fuels to run.

Get great prices on 280 watt solar panels by looking online. There you will find a wide choice of 280 watt solar panel to pick from. Go online and buy now.