As you probably already know, summer is the most popular season for home solar installation in the Lone Star State—and in the rest of the country.
After all, the weather is mostly dry and always warm—if not outright hot—and the most sunshine falls on our rooftops in the summer months.
But does that make it the best time for getting a solar energy system put in? Perhaps surprisingly, here at Universal Green Group, we don’t think so.
Instead, we recommend Fall. In other words, depending on which part of the state you live in, anywhere from September through November or even mid-December. Here’s why:
Less Demand for Installers
Good solar installation companies like (ahem) Universal Green Group do a thorough job designing an installation for a customer—working with them to figure out their energy needs and goals, assessing their rooftops for angle, orientation, and so forth, and helping them select the right panels and inverter.
Solar Panel Installation in Texas
That takes time. So does the solar panel installation itself, carried out meticulously by professional technicians. More importantly, in the summer months, reliable installers have customers lined up awaiting their turn. Those numbers drop in the autumn months.
Shorter Permitting Turnaround
In between and after design and installation, there’s the paperwork. The local government and utility offices that handle permitting and inspection have their own queues too.
In some places, that process can last for weeks—even once your file gets to the tops of the in-trays. And the more applications, the longer the wait.
Solar Panel System in Texas
Again, after Labor Day, those application queues in the offices get shorter, and therefore so does the time from installation contract to your new solar system going online.
Better Weather in Texas
Yes, summer is drier—sudden unseasonable deluges like the recent one in Austin aside—but it’s also hotter. And mean summer temperatures in Texas have been rising steadily over the last decade.
Working on rooftops for hours in 90-plus degree heat, even taking proper precautions against dehydration and heat exhaustion, can be risky.
Solar Panel Company in Texas
At Universal Green Group, like other reputable solar installers in Texas, we don’t send out installation teams once the temperature approaches three figures.
We wait until the heat wave subsides. But in the autumn, we seldom have that problem. Now and again there’s a fall hailstorm, but installer crews will just get down off the roof—and hail, even big, heavy hail, doesn’t hurt modern solar panels.
In fact, the panels help protect your roof. When the hail melts, the crew can get right back to work. And here’s something you might not know: solar panels are more efficient in cold weather than in hot.
Residential Solar Systems in Texas
Of course, if it’s overcast, let alone snowing, the insolation–the amount of sunlight falling on the panels–is much lower. But cold sunny winter days, though shorter than summer days, can generate a lot of energy in your home solar system.
Solar Energy
So if you choose fall as your time to go solar, it takes less time and may actually be cheaper. Not only that, but a fall install has you ready to reduce or even eliminate your electric bill during those winter months when (as we know from last year) energy can suddenly get very expensive.