As somebody who served 5 years on our town's Alternative Energy Committee, we'd worked with the power companies to install massive solar arrays on many town-owned buildings, but I've always been hesitant to pull the trigger on a solar array for our home because, due to that same experience, I'm aware how lopsided and restricting all the "we'll install solar on your roof for free" programs really are. (News flash: NOTHING is ever free … the power company makes a KILLING while you get peanuts). We've attempted to size out a solar array for our nice, large south-facing roof, but every installer in the planet keeps shoving "get the tax credits for free" programs at us and jacking up the price of solar panels you can buy direct-from-manufacturer for 1/6th the price.We also want a system that will work when the grid goes down, which means no tax credits, or needing a way to switch from street-power to battery backup sytem. Having served on the Alternative Energy Committee, I'm familiar with some of the jargon (south-facing roof, calculating solar need, etc.), but not other jargon (I am NOT an engineer). So when I spotted "SOLAR POWER FOR BEGINNERS: How to Design and Install the Best Solar Power System for Your Home" I grabbed it on a whim.The book is organized logically, with lots of diagrams. The writing is about as straightforward as a book about highly technical information can get, with the easier topics very simple, and the more technical aspects explained step-by-step. You are not going to read through anything but the first few chapters of this book "for pleasure." It's more of a step-by-step guide that you'll use as you muddle your way through each step. I did do many of the exercises, including dig out my old energy bill and calculate my need, estimate my available roof space, etc. There are lots of buy-direct links to find some of the equipment referenced, which are really helpful.My only complaints are that:a) It doesn't talk about off-grid hookup, including sizing a battery array, maintenance, calculating loss, or how to hook it up.b) Once you go to install the brackets and panels onto your roof, there may be additional installation information you may need to know about, such as structural defects in your roof that may need reinforcing, or issues with older electrical systems, which were not given as much discussion as I would have preferred (this was often an issue when retrofitting aging town-owned buildings with solar systems). I think these issues go beyond this book, but it would have been nice to have the issues raised so the reader is aware of it and knows to do additional research.I suspect that most of the D.I.Y. people who want to read this book and install their own solar array themselves are interested in off-grid since otherwise the power company will come and install it for free (in exchange for a 20-year "buyback" agreement and no off-grid). Maybe they'll rectify this and add this information in a future edition? But other than that significant gripe, I'm still going to give this book 5-stars because the solar installation guys did nothing but espouse gobbly-gook and all the other D.I.Y. off-grid solar books waste time talking about "SHTF" and very little talk about how to power an average, everyday house NOW and not just bare-minimum after TEOTWAWKI. Thanks to this book I now know how to calculate about 80% of what I need, which is about 50% more than I knew before.Recommend even with the above-noted shortcoming.