I've often thought that this would be a good idea, if for nothing else, as a solar water heater, but my land is so heavily wooded, even around the house, that I don't think I would get enough sunlight on the roof to make much of an impact.
At least for the house, now the garage might be a different story if the solar cells could generate enough juice to run the lights, lift, AC, etc. I'm guessing you do need to still be connected to the grid, and there would be some sort of switching mechanism to switch from the solar system to the power company grid when the current draw needed exceeded what the solar panels can provide.
Let me know how this works out for you, or if you hit a brick wall, what that was. Interesting topic....
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