Photovoltaic cells are often advertised as an investment that saves you money in the long run. Although, as we've mentioned, each case is different, we can check it with an example. Show
Let's consider a nice house somewhere near Boston, Massachusetts. The average residential power use is 627 kWh per month, priced at 14.91¢/kWh. Rounding it up, we pay $94 for electricity monthly and $1,128 yearly. Now, the house has a gable roof, and one side of it is usually in the shade, so a solar panel power output there would be close to zero. It's better to exclude this bit completely. If the total roof area was 1750 ft2, halving it means that we have approximately 875 ft2 (81.3 m2) of usable area. Inputting the data into the solar panel calculator shows us that to offset 100% of electricity bills, we need a solar array producing 7.36 kW, assuming an environmental factor of 70%. The average installation cost for an 8 kW system is $25,680. Dividing this by yearly electricity cost, we see that the solar panels for home use would return the investment after nearly 23 years. However, this is a bad scenario, as solar panels are more efficient when used closer to the equator. Bear in mind that often there are incentives that help offset the installation price. Moreover, we didn't account for inflation which causes electricity costs to increase. Although the final decision is yours, hopefully, our solar panel calculator can help you make an informed choice. First, you need to know the power consumption for the property. You can find this using the power bills for 12 months. Add the monthly kilo-watt hours (kWh) for an annual total. If you don't have power bills, there are other ways to create an estimate. Order the solar design service and we can help. Once you know the kWh desired, use the calculator here to determine the kilo-watts (kW) of solar power you will need to generate kWh.
The NEXT STEP, now that you have an estimate for the desired kW, VIEW SOLAR KIT SIZES to compare prices, brands and, options. Remember, you decide how much solar to get based on the need, available space, and budget. There is no rule that you have to offset 100% of current energy use. Utilities will generally allow grid-connected systems up to 120% of the previous 12 months consumption. They will also allow for consumption increases from an electric vehicle, home expansion or other needs. How to Calculate Your Solar Video TutorialWatch this video to learn how much solar power in kilo-watts or kW is needed to generate the kilo-watt hours or kWh of energy used at your property. SOLAR HOURS PER DAYThe following table provides a lookup for the solar hours per day in the biggest cities in each state of the USA. Use the solar hours per day in the calculator above. If you know the annual kWh consumed at the property, then divide it by the kWh per 1kW to determine the solar array size needed for the project.
The solar hours per day table uses PV Watts calculations for each location using these input standards:
Actual results will vary for each project. Solar Power Map of the United StatesFind your Solar Hours per Day using the color-coding on this map. Enter the value for your location into the solar calculator. The solar map uses insolation, a measure of solar radiation energy received on a given surface area in a given time. This is typically measured in kilo-watt hours per square meter per day (kWh/m2/day). The map shows the average daily total solar radiation throughout the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed it. Steps to calculate how much solar you needAt SunWatts, we make solar simple, and calculating how much solar you need has never been easier. On our Calculate How Much Solar page, you will learn how much solar power in kilo-watts or kW is needed to generate the kilo-watt hours or kWh of energy used at your property. To estimate your solar system size, you will need three pieces of information to calculate the solar kilowatts.
Now, let's look at each item in more detail. YOUR POWER BILL If no total is provided, then add the kilo-watt hours for each month and enter the total into #1 on our Solar Power Calculator. Do NOT include comma or decimal point. As an example, the average home in the USA uses 30 kWh per Day. Multiply that by 365 days, and the average home in the USA uses 11,000 kWh of electricity per year. So let's enter 11000 into field #1. SOLAR HOURS PER DAY POWER BILL OFFSET The example answer should be 7.64. This means that 7.64 kW or 7,640 watts of solar should generate 11,000 kilo-watt hours per year in Birmingham Alabama. You now know how to calculate the kW size you will need for a solar kit that will generate the kWh you consume. To find the price and more details for a solar kit, click the red link to VIEW SOLAR KIT SIZES, or use the menu by choosing Solar Kit, then Solar Kit Sizes. You will see that we have many different size solar kits, from 1,000 to 1 million watts. SunWatts. Solar Made Simple. How do I calculate how many solar panels I need for my battery?But you must check voltage as well using this clamp meter.. Load Calculation = 220V * 5 A.. = 1100W.. Battery Storage = Total Load * Backup Time.. = 1100W * 4 hrs.. = 4400W.. Battery Capacity = Required Battery Storage / Battery Storage.. = 4400W / 1300W.. = 4 Batteries.. How do I calculate the size of my solar system?To figure out how to size your solar system, take your daily kWh energy requirement and divide it by your peak sun hours to get the kW output. Then divide the kW output by your panel's efficiency to get the estimated number of solar panels you'll need for your system.
How many solar panels do I need per area?The average solar panel is 78.74 x 157.48 centimeters, which you can use to roughly calculate how many panels your roof will hold. In this case, each panel takes up roughly 1.239-1.44 square meters of space. For a 19.72 square meter roof, you could install a maximum of 12-15 solar panels.
How many solar panels do I need for 1500 watts?On the average house, you will need to install three standard-size solar panels to power a heater that consumes 1500-watts of energy per hour.
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