[MassHistPres] solar panels in historic districts

[Willa Bandler]

On Fri, 2 Sep 2011, james hadley wrote:

>
> You can find a guide to wiring solar shingles here - http://www.solarshingleabcs.com/installation.html
> They do indeed require a wire and penetration for each shingle, according to this guide.

Every 3 1/2", they claim, which seems like a lot. I wonder if some brands 
of solar shingles are larger than that? But the point they make about 
wiring in series makes me even more concerned about replacing damaged 
shingles, because as I understand it that means one dead one would make 
the whole series not work, and it also means you'd have to get to the 
connections on either side to replace each one, which seems complicated at 
best.

Also, it should be pointed out that solar shingles are much less efficent 
per square foot (and probably an order of magnitude less efficient per 
homeowner dollar) than plain old photovoltaic panels. Not to mention that 
solar thermal (hot water) panels are a better choice for New England than 
photovoltaic panels anyway, because they work better in marginal 
conditions (partly cloudy weather/weak winter sunshine).

-Willa