Other Considerations

Winter days are short, summer days are long. The time of year will influence your energy production and therefore your income. You need a whole year of data to know what your system can achieve in the real world. My data is available here. Also, if you have set yourself a daily production target (for instance, to meet household demand) a system designed to meet that demand will fall short in winter and over-produce in summer. It's all about the yearly averages. If you want to match your household all year round, you need to plan the system around the shortest day in winter. This would put you in surplus at all other times of the year.

A household uses power 24 hours a day. Solar can only produce electricity during daylight hours. If you want to be carbon neutral, you have to produce enough electricity during the day to put yourself into credit for the night

Solar panels become less efficient as they get hotter. This tempers their performance in summer (although with long days and plenty of sunlight, summer remains the most productive time of the year). In winter, the lack of heat improves performance, which helps to make up for the shorter days

Photovoltaic systems produce DC electricity, but the grid needs AC electricity. The conversion is done by an inverter. The distance between the photovoltaic panels and the inverter should be minimised to reduce energy loss (DC doesn't travel long distances well - that's why the grid uses AC). The inverter should be mounted under cover - perhaps under an eve or inside a utility space such as a laundry or ventilated cupboard

When operational, inverters make a constant humming sound, a bit like an old fridge. The noise will vary according to the workload. For some people it could be annoying, though it doesn't bother me. For this reason, give some thought to its placement. Of course there is no issue when the sun goes down. It is completely silent after sundown