Calculating Solar Panel Output
Solar Power Generation System
Prospective users of home solar power systems may find that they have different requirements in terms of the appropriate number of solar panels for their systems Even a small number of panels will help make a serious dent in your monthly electricity bills. Finding out the number of solar panels necessary in order to truly go off the grid takes just a few steps.
The first step is determining the amount of electricity you use in your home per day. You can do this by gathering up as many of your monthly electricity bills as you can. (You may be able to look your old bills up online through your utility provider as well.) Use these bills to see the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) you use per month. When you divide this figure by 30, you’ll get your average daily electricity usage in kWh.
Another key variable is insolation. Insolation refers to the amount of usable sunlight the panels will receive in a given area. Solar panels only produce power when they come in direct contact with sunlight. The sunlight also needs to meet a minimum level of intensity. Sunlight exposure for a given surface, of course, varies over the course of a year. Even throughout a single day, the amount of sunlight present at any given time can be different. Every area has an average insolation value. Maps displaying insolation values can be found online. Once you have the insolation value, divide your kWh usage figure from the previous step by the insolation value to find the amount of power you’ll need your solar power system to generate daily.
Power loss is the last factor to consider. Even with more recent systems, there is still a slight power loss during conversion. The general rule of thumb in this respect is to assume your loss figure is 25% (although you’re likely getting much less than that) just to be sure. Multiply the figure from the previous step by 1.25 to get the amount of power you’ll need, with loss factored in. Now you can see how many kWh of energy you need, adjusted for insolation and efficiency.
If you divide this figure by the kWh output of your solar panel of choice, you’ll see how many of these panels you’ll need to install in order to produce enough power for your day to day needs.
One of the first questions a homeowner faces when deciding on whether to install a home solar power system is, “How many solar panels do I need?” If you need to know the answer to this question, head on to How Many Solar Panels Do I Need?
If you want to build your own solar panel, visit Build Solar Panel. You might also be interested in a mini course on how to build your own solar power system. Go to Solar Power Calculator to sign-up for a 6 part mini course.
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