For those of us that don’t have enough space on our roofs, the next best option is a ground-mounted solar array. This begs the question: How far can solar panels be from the house?
Generally speaking, you can have your solar panels as far as 150 meters (or roughly 500 feet) but you’d need more expensive and thicker wires for that. Ideally, you should aim to keep your solar panels at 15 meters to maintain a voltage drop of only 2%.
Like everything else about solar installations, however, how far you can install your solar panels from your home depends on a few things. I will discuss them below, as well as other related topics. Tap on any of the bullets below to jump sections.
- Factors affecting how far solar panels can be from your home
- How to lower voltage drops to produce more power and prevent power loss
Factors Influencing How Far Can Solar Panels Be From The House
The ratio between maximum sunlight and energy yield for a given area determines the efficacy of solar panels. From improper installation to atmospheric conditions, there are many reasons a solar panel’s rating and actual solar power output differ significantly.
Here are a few of the factors that will determine how far can solar panels be from the house are:
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Your budget
As previously mentioned, the further your solar panels are from your house, the longer and thicker your cables need to be to prevent excessive energy loss.
These wires can be expensive. So, depending on how much you’re willing to spend or compromise, your budget can set a limit on far your solar panels can be from your home.
Environmental conditions
Preferably, you should have your solar panels in a place where it isn’t shaded by trees or other obstacles such as buildings, your neighbor’s house, fences, and others. You also should install your solar panels where it gets the most sun exposure to maximize your solar power output.
Having said that, the ideal spots aren’t always the closest to your home.
Your available space
Not everyone has acres upon acres of land. Most of us only have a few hundred square meters to work with – and that’s not even counting the area already occupied by our houses.
As such, how much land you have available to you affects how far away you can install your solar panels, too.
The other parts of your solar system
Apart from solar panels, your system will also need an inverter and, if you choose to, a battery bank and a charge controller.
Different inverters have different conversion efficiencies. Different batteries also have different power ratings and roundtrip efficiencies.
Needless to say, both these components affect how much usable power your entire system will be able to provide. In turn, they will also affect how far you will be able to install your system without excessive energy drops in your solar panel output. Speaking of power drops…
How to reduce voltage drops from your solar array
Completely bypassing energy losses and voltage drops is currently impossible. However, there are numerous ways to help mitigate them. The most efficient methods are as follows:
Reduce the distance
The best way to reduce high voltage drops is to place your solar panels as close to your house as possible. You will want to install the other components of your solar system closer together, too.
Doing so minimizes the amount of wire needed, thus reducing voltage drops that are typical in ground-mounted solar panels.
Use thicker cable wires
Cables are like roads. Narrower roads aren’t built to handle heavy traffic. Similarly, thin cables create more resistance within your circuit.
So, should you opt to install your solar panels further away from your home, using thicker wires will help ensure that “traffic” flows smoothly.
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Install a DC-DC Converter
DC to DC converters can boost your entire system’s power output by up to 30%, making power drops less of a sacrifice. There are many types of DC-DC converters, though, including boost, buck, and buck-boost converters.
Each of those types is better for certain systems. So, if you plan on adding these to your system, I suggest you communicate it with your trusted installer.
Choose high-voltage solar components
From solar panels to inverters and everything in between, components with higher voltage can help mitigate energy drops that happen when you install solar panels hundreds of meters away from your home.
As voltage increases, current decreases. Low current also means low resistance. And when there’s less resistance, you also experience less power loss.
Choose rooftop solar panels if you can
Having solar panels directly on top of your house comes with a multitude of benefits. For one, you will need fewer cables which means you spend less money. Second, you won’t have to worry about shading issues as much, so they’re generally more efficient, too.
Those 2 reasons also mean you lose less power.
Though, you likely wouldn’t be here if you had already made up your mind about installing solar panels on your roof. Nevertheless, it had to be said.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, you ideally should have your solar panels installed as close as 15 meters from your house. This brings the voltage drop down to about 2%.
But, if you’re willing to spend more on longer and thicker cables, you should be able to maintain this same efficiency even if you installed your solar panels 150 meters away.
On that note, other factors determine how far from your house you can place your solar panels. There are also ways to mitigate energy loss. All of those are detailed above.
That being said, we have a network of pre-vetted installers ready to give you 3 FREE quotes. No commitments. Just us lending a hand.
