Not Sure How Many Solar Panels You Need? Here’s How to Find Out

So, you want to install a solar energy system, but you’re not sure how many panels you need? Yet, you need to get it right as knowing how many panels you need is crucial to ensure you install a system that can effectively meet your home and family’s needs.

In this post, we’ll look at how you can calculate how many solar panels you need.

Understanding Your Power Usage

At its core, knowing how many panels you need relies on understanding how much electricity you use every month. Luckily, this is quite simple. You only need to look at your electricity bill or smart meter readings for six months or so and calculate an average from that. Keep in mind that you can also make an adjustment to this figure if you anticipate any factors that might increase or decrease your usage.

Solar Panel Output Options

To calculate how many solar panels you need, you should also know the output of the panels you plan on using. Generally, nowadays, most homes have 300 to 400w panels and to get the exact output, you can contact the manufacturer or your local solar panel installer.

Installation Considerations

Apart from knowing how much electricity you use and the output of the solar panels you plan on using, there are a few other considerations you should look at. First, you should look at the amount of roof space you have available. Generally, the roof space required goes up as the capacity of the system increases. So, you should make sure that you have enough space available.

You should also consider the orientation of the panels. Typically, north-facing panels perform best as they get maximum exposure to the sun. However, if you don’t have enough north-facing roof space available, your panels can also face in most other directions.

Calculating the Size of Your Solar Energy System

Let’s now look at the steps you’ll need to follow to calculate the size of your solar energy system and how many solar panels you’ll need:

• Your electricity consumption. We’ve already looked at how you can calculate your average usage. You’ll use this figure as the basis for your calculation.

• Sunshine hours. Next, you’ll look at how much sunshine you can expect in your area. This is measured in peak sun hours and shows you how much electricity a 1kW solar system will generate. For instance, if a specific area has 150 peak sun hours per month, a 1kW solar system will generate 150kWh of electricity.

• Calculation. Finally, you can calculate the size of your solar energy system. To do this, you’ll divide your electricity requirements by the peak sunshine hours in your area. So, if your area has 150 peak sun hours a month and you need 900kWh, you’ll need a 6kW solar system. From this, you can also calculate how many solar panels you’ll need by converting kilowatts to watts and dividing by the output of your channels.

Hopefully, you now know how to calculate the size of your solar energy system so that you’ll install a system that meets your needs. Now, you only need a solar panel installer to get started.

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