Q: What will solar collectors look like on my house?

A: You have lots of options.

Many people do not put the solar collectors on the house at all. Solar collectors can be mounted upon the garage, or a woodshed, storage shed, or pool cabana. You can use array of solar collectors as a fence and landscape it nicely. If you do place the solar collectors on the house, there will be a small efficiency benefit because of shorter pipe runs.

If you select an efficient solar energy system, fewer panels will be needed to do the job, and they will be easier to locate.

Most solar collectors are black under the glass and have dark brown sidewalls. They blend in well with dark roofing materials.