Can Do—Even in a Condo: How to Go Solar
Solar energy can work for people living in condominium buildings. Here’s how we did it.
January/February 2009
By Sarah Lozanova
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Sarah Lozanova and her husband, Kiril Lozanov, asked for contributions to their solar panel fund in place of wedding gifts.
Photo by Kiril Lozanov
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My husband and I never thought we could heat our Chicago condominium unit with solar energy—we don’t even own exclusive roof rights on our building. But we noticed the roof had space for solar panels and good solar exposure, and this potential was completely untapped. Our condominium unit is now equipped with a 1.7-kW solar system that generates more than enough power for our unit. Here’s how we did it.
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Getting permission
Approaching the condominium board of directors was easier than I thought it would be. We made some promises to help deter the board’s concerns:
■ We wouldn't penetrate the roof membrane. We used an adjustable, ballasted pan system, weighed down by cement blocks, to mount the panels. This allows the panels to be moved for roof maintenance and to adjust their angle by 20 degrees depending on the sun’s seasonal angle.
■ All wiring runs down the back of the building and follows existing conduits whenever possible, so it doesn’t change the building exterior’s aesthetics.
■ Only the AC disconnect was mounted on the building exterior. This is required by our local utility, to ensure the disconnect is accessible during emergencies or to perform repairs. We found a place for the inverter and the DC disconnect inside our unit.
System components
The interior solar components had to feed into our electric panel, which is in our kitchen. But we didn’t want the kitchen to look like a web of conduit with visible solar equipment mounted on the walls.
Our solution was to install additional cabinets and run the conduit along the top, where it’s not visible. We put the inverter inside a cabinet and removed the top and bottom to allow air circulation (it’s important that the inverter does not overheat). The kitchen’s solar components are totally hidden, and the cabinet mitigates noise from the inverter.
Energy efficiency and solar system size