The Best Solar Panels

How We Found the Best Solar Panels

We focused just on residential solar arrays (also called solar photovoltaic or PV systems), and went big and broad to start, compiling a long list of panel models from major vendors and industry reviews. From there, we weeded out any solar panel not currently in production: While discontinued panels may seem like a steal, engineer and professor Dr. Tom Lombardo confirms that “the first thing not to focus on is the price. Buying the least expensive panels may result in lower quality, and if the company goes out of business, the warranty is useless.” With that in mind, we also eliminated solar panels from companies that were defunct, seeking bankruptcy protection, up for sale, or otherwise financially unstable, leaving us with 188 panels.

We cut companies that haven’t been around for at least 10 years.

According to Green Tech Media, the solar panel (for example: GOAL ZERO NOMAD 7 ) industry is volatile, with a whopping 88 companies bankrupting between 2009 and 2015. The rate is beginning to slow, but a glut in the marketplace around 2011 so drastically lowered the prices of panels that manufacturers were (and some still are) having a hard time making a profit. The MIT Technology Review says these failing companies are better for the solar industry overall — a more competitive market with bigger profits is key in investing in new equipment and driving technology forward — but bad news for your warranty.

There are two standard warranties for solar panels: a 25-year performance warranty guaranteeing certain levels of electricity production, and a 10-year workmanship warranty covering the panel hardware, like the diodes and glass. And Lombardo notes that panels can often last well beyond 25 years. If the company that made your panels goes belly up, your warranties are void — and there goes your $40,000 investment. For our top picks, we chose companies with staying power. Newcomers: It’s up to you to prove us wrong.

We required at least 230 watts of power.

Watts measure the “electricity production top speed” of a solar panel, or put simply, how much power each one can generate. Wattage helps determine how many panels to install: Take the full wattage that it takes to power your home and divide that by each panel’s wattage. If the average US home usage is 5,500w and you’re looking at, say, 300w panels, you’ll end up needing 19.

But remember! You also have to take into account the total surface area of your roof that is good for solar: the part that has the right angle to the sun, southern or western exposure, and little to no shade. If you have a 1,200-square-foot home and assume around 40 percent is good for solar, that’s only 480 square feet. Panels are, on average, 18.3 square feet and if you need 19 to power your home, you will use nearly 350 square feet of that space.

Take a lower-wattage panel though, say 175w, and you’ll need almost twice as many panels to create the same amount of electricity — and therefore twice as much roof space. You can solve the space problem by getting more smaller lower-watt panels, but then you’re increasing your installation costs.

The long and the short of it: You want fewer, higher-wattage panels. Because wattage is directly related to a panel’s dimensions, 230w is by no means a hard-and-fast cutoff. Most solar panels average right around 200w (and the average on our list was 265w) so we skewed our picks to be the best. That said, if you have your heart set on a daintier solar panel that only outputs 200w, it could still be a great choice.

The manufacturer’s customer service had to be top-notch.

In a perfect world, you wouldn’t ever really talk to your solar panel manufacturer. Purchasing, setting up, and repairing your solar array are funneled through your installer — similarly, you wouldn’t contact whoever made your shingles if your roof started leaking. All solar manufacturers have preferred installers; likewise, all installers use panels from their manufacturing partners. (You get to choose which path to go down: starting with the panel and then getting set up with their installer in your area, or picking an installer and then choosing from its preferred panels.)

In the event your installer goes out of business, though, contacting the panel manufacturer is the only way you’ll be able to leverage your warranty if and when you need to. We want to recommend solar panels from companies with amazing customer service that can answer your questions and (if necessary) assist you in a jam.

We evaluated our remaining contenders on the quality of their websites — was it easy to locate basic information like warranty and company history? — as well as their telephone and email service. (Panasonic didn’t return our phone calls or emails for over a week.) Five companies stood out as the best, and their panels made it into our top picks.

7 Easy Ways to Get Your Small Business Up and Running

If you’ve always dreamed of starting your own business and being your own boss, you may be daunted by the amount of red tape and hassle it takes to begin your own venture. You may not want to deal with filling out the paperwork, renting out a business space, hiring employees, and other expensive steps that are necessary for some new companies. If you’re not sure your business idea is going to be a hit, it’s tricky to take that risk. It can also be expensive. Instead, try one of these easy, inexpensive small business ideas to start creating income.

1. Start Blogging

One easy way to go into business for yourself is by starting a blog. While not every blogger is making money, there are ways to generate revenue from blogging. Creating a blog is simple and most of the time, free. You simply need to find a unique topic and begin to post information about it. Using services like Google AdWords can help you make money.

4 Etiquette to Keep in Mind When Attending an Online Business Meeting

Years of practice and experience will likely have already taught you the correct etiquette and customs to use during meetings to make them successful. Online conferences through video software are a relatively new phenomenon, but one that has been proven to be so useful and productive that it has already dominated the workplace in just a few short years. While many of the same basic principles apply to these online meetings, there are still some pieces of etiquette to keep in mind that work differently when talking online. It is a good idea to pick up these habits early so that they become second nature and don’t negatively affect you in the future. Here are just a few things to keep in mind during your next meeting:

Be Prepared

You are expected to be well prepared for an in-person talk, so an online meeting shouldn’t be any different. Not only should you prepare your agenda and any important points you want to make, but your presentation if you need one. A great advantage of using cloud based conferencing is that you can include video clips in your presentation to make it more interesting and memorable. When it comes time for the meeting, ensure you are dressed appropriately (don’t be tempted to wear your pyjamas and bunny slippers just because you are in your own home), your room is prepared (nothing embarrassing visible in the background) and give yourself a few minutes to check your internet connection and technical specifications. Inc.Com recommends that if you are the event host, be sure to send out the invites and access codes (which are needed to access the meeting, particularly if the participant isn’t using the same piece of software) at least a day in advance. There is nothing worse than a scheduled talk being held up because one person can’t gain access or hasn’t set their camera and microphone properly. If you take all of these steps, your meetings will start on time and run smoothly.

3 Marketing Myths Small Businesses Must Avoid

Regardless of what point in your business journey you are at, marketing is one of the most important elements that should be at the top of your agenda. It’s the key to recruiting new customers, and can play an integral role in maintaining the loyalty of existing ones too.

However, many entrepreneurs have picked up ideas about the subject that aren’t necessarily true. Unfortunately, following those rules could be damaging your hopes of maximized profits. So drop everything you think you know; this is how you’ll gain greater success.

Offline Marketing Is Dead

The most common mistake that modern entrepreneurs tend to fall for is the idea that offline marketing doesn’t work. But even if your business is a purely online venture, they still have plenty to offer.

Targeting localized areas can be a great way to establish an epicenter for the business. As the word spreads in all directions, you’ll soon reach the targets that you’ve set. Meanwhile, promotional gifts are a great way to increase the positivity from individuals and groups.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of offline marketing is that it gives you an opportunity for human interaction. This is still the easiest way to gain trust while it also allows you to use your biggest USP: you. If you’ve been neglecting those offline ventures, now is the time to start giving them the attention they deserve.