Advice provided by: Sarah Gudeman, LEED AP, EIT, Morrissey Engineering, Inc.

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Paul asks: I am in New York and want to install solar panels on my house in Long Island. I am concerned that there is not enough sun to make this cost effective. Is there a do it yourself product for solar that will still work if it's partially shaded?

Answer: Hi Paul, thanks for your question.

I think a popular misconception when it comes to solar power is that if you live in an area with more shady days than, say Arizona, it’s not a good technology to pursue. So while, yes your solar panel won’t produce as much energy under cloudy skies as direct sunlight, under a light overcast sky, panels might produce about half as much as their rated full output.

General Electric actually has a nicely detailed brochure on the topic of Residential Solar available online at http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/solar/en/downloads/gea17026_re.... The United States Atlas of Renewable Resources (available at http://mapserve2.nrel.gov/website/Resource_Atlas/viewer.htm ) is an interactive application of the renewable energy resources in the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii. It illustrates the geographic distribution of wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass resources. Based on information from the Atlas, as I’m sure you might ascertain, you’re not in the most ideal area for solar power generation at about 4.2 kWh/m2/day. (Alternatively you can check out this jpeg map from NREL at http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/map_pv_national_lo-res.jpg. You can search for yourself, because I almost certainly did not guess your exact zip code when I searched for this information, but installing solar panels in your area isn’t unheard of or undesirable.

For a 1kW solar panel, which is enough to run a 20-inch television for 20 hours, a portable stereo for 100 hours, a laptop computer for 40 hours, or a 12-watt compact-fluorescent light bulb for 80 hours , you should be prepared to pay about $9,000 to purchase the system and pay fees to the utility company (assuming you’re tying this into the grid). This is where the DIY part comes in, because that cost doesn’t include installation costs. Also worth noting is doing the installation yourself would require being able to read electrical drawings and do wiring. Personally, this is out of the realm of what I’d feel comfortable doing myself, so I’d ask an electrician friend to, at a minimum, supervise.

I’m not aware of any ‘plug and play’ DIY solar panel kits that will produce 1kW of power, at the moment. However, there are smaller DIY solar kits available which may be suitable as a starting point.

Also, there are many incentives available in your locale for installation of photovoltaics. A Personal Tax Credit for 25% the cost of the system – up to $5,000, a solar rebate program through the Long Island Power Authority for $2.75/W (DC) – up to 10 kW, and a $2.75/W (DC) rebate from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Information on these and many more programs are available online at http://dsireusa.org/solar/.

Good luck!