How Many Watts Do You Currently Use
Look at your electricity bill for average usage. Look for Kilowatt Hours Used or something similar, and then note the length of time represented . If your bill doesnt show kilowatt hours used, look for beginning and ending meter readings and subtract the previous reading from the most recent one.
You want daily and hourly usage for our calculations, so if your bill doesnt show a daily average, just divide the monthly or annual average by 30 or 365 days, respectively, and then divide again by 24 to determine your hourly average electricity usage. Your answer will be in kW.
A small home in a temperate climate might use something like 200 kWh per month, and a larger home in the south where air conditioners account for the largest portion of home energy usage might use 2,000 kWh or more. The average U.S. home uses about 900 kWh per month. So thats 30 kWh per day or 1.25 kWh per hour.
Your average daily energy usage is your target daily average to calculate your solar needs. Thats the number of kilowatt-hours you need your solar system to produce if you want to cover most if not all of your electricity needs.
Its important to note that solar panels dont operate at maximum efficiency 24 hours a day. . Weather conditions, for example, can temporarily reduce your systems efficiency. Therefore, experts recommend adding a 25 percent cushion to your target daily average to ensure you can generate all the clean energy you need.
How Do I Find The Right Installer For A 6kw Solar System
If you are interested in off-grid solar panel options or want to install solar panels yourself, it is possible to buy a DIY solar kit to install a 6kW system. A DIY kit costs about $10,000, making them slightly cheaper than the installed price you will get with a solar company.
Although it is technically cheaper to buy a DIY kit, many times you will need the help of a solar installer or a licensed electrician. After solar installation, electricians will ensure that the system will pass inspections.
All of that extra work can cost more than having a licensed solar installer install your panels. Also, when you work with licensed professionals, you can benefit from a 25-year warranty on your panels, a perk you do not get with DIY.
To really be sure if a 6kW system is right for you, it makes sense to work with trusted solar installers to determine the number of solar panels your home needs. Find out what local incentives you can qualify for and if a 6kW system is right for your homes energy needs!
Is a 6kW solar system the right size for your home?
Size Vs Quantity: Typical Solar Panel Ratings And Capacity
Power output on its own is not a complete indicator of a panels quality and performance characteristics. For some panels, their high power output rating is due to their larger physical size rather than their higher efficiency or technological superiority.
For example, if two solar panels both have 15 percent efficiency ratings, but one has a power output rating of 250 watts and the other is rated at 300 watts, it means that the 300-watt panel is about 20 percent physically larger than the 250-watt panel. Thats why EnergySage and other industry experts view panel efficiency as being a more indicative criterion of solar panel performance strength than solar capacity alone.
In practical terms, a solar panel system with a total rated capacity of 5kW could be made up of either 20 250-Watt panels or 16 300-Watt panels. Both systems will generate the same amount of power in the same geographic location. Though a 5kW system may produce 6,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year in Boston, that same system will produce 8,000 kWh every year in Los Angeles because of the amount of sun each location gets each year.
Find out more about average prices for solar across the country for 3kW,4kW, 5kW, 6kW, 7kW, 8 kW and 10kW solar systems. The EnergySage Solar Marketplace makes it easy for you to compare your savings from solar panels with various power output ratings.
Recommended Reading: How Much Is Solar Power To Install
How Much Solar Power Can You Generate By State
Of course, there are many assumptions that we used that differ for every solar panel system. One of the major difference-makers is geographic location, which directly impacts the hours of quality sunlight your solar panel system will get. We used 5 hours per day as our average aboveheres how that number changes geographically, while still assuming an average roof size of 1,700 square feet and 320 watt solar panels:
How much solar energy can you generate on your roof by state?
| State |
|---|
*Assumptions: 17.5 square foot/320-watt solar panels, 5 sun-hours per day
Why Solar Panel Output Matters
The productivity of panels is important when designing solar systems, since it determines how many are needed to reach a certain energy production target. When the square feet available are limited, getting the highest possible output from each panel is important.
The sufficient number of solar panels needed to power your home depends on your electricity consumption and savings goal. For example, reducing a power bill by 80% requires more panels that reducing it by 50%. If energy storage is added to use electricity from solar panels at night, the production calculations must also consider the kilowatt-hours required to charge batteries.
Solar shingle installations follow a completely different approach, since solar cells are embedded in roof shingles. This makes them worth installing in new homes, since there is no need to install a separate roof and solar energy system. Conventional solar panels are still the best option for existing homes. Solar shingles would require a complete roof removal in this case, which is very expensive.
We hope you liked this article. Please rate it or leave us a comment.
Read Also: Where To Buy Solar Shades
When Are Solar Panels Most Efficient
The million dollar question. Weve already touched on part of the answer above on a day-to-day basis, solar panels are most efficient during peak sun hours, and noticeably more so in the summer than in the winter, since theyre more likely to have unfettered access to greater periods of sunlight.
Summer days generally have between four and six peak hours of sunlight, broadly between 9am to 3pm. Winter days have a much narrower window of peak sunlight, generally between one and three hours around noon of each day.
However, its worth us reiterating that solar panels are still quite capable of producing a surprising amount of energy, even on cloudy days. This is because the bare minimum they require is daylight, rather than specifically sunlight although the latter is always a bonus! Plus, dont forget that its actually the local cost of electricity that has one of the most profound effects on the scale of your savings, rather than the amount of regular cloud cover.
How Many Solar Panels Do I Need For 2000 Kwh Per Month
The amount of solar power depends majorly on your location. You also need to estimate the average amount of sunlight you receive in an area. 2000 kWh means that the energy consumption per day is estimated at 66 kWh.
Electrical Energy = Electrical power x time
On average, a system rated 13 kW produces 2000 kWh per month. This translates to roughly 40 solar panels of 330 watts.
To find the size of the system and the number of solar panels such a system consists of, you must find an estimate of the average amount of sunlight daily, which is referred to as peak sun hours.
Also Check: What Can A 120 Watt Solar Panel Run
How Many Kwh Per Day Does A 5kw System Produce
A 5kW solar power system with an average irradiance of 4 peak-sun-hours per day will theoretically generate 20kWh per day. This assumes clear skies with no shading and will vary according to location. In practice, a 5kW system may produce less than this, as solar losses reduce the power output.
5000 watts of solar power is just about the average size of a US domestic solar system and represents 17 solar panels @ 300 watts each.
The energy output of any solar power systems depends on the suns energy, or irradiance, and this varies from state to state.
For example, the irradiance in peak-sun-hours in Arizona is 3 times more than in Alaska, so the difference van be very big. For most purposes, and estimate using an average irradiance value of 4 peak-sun-hours gives a good idea of solar output.
How Many Kwh Does A Solar Panel Produce
Solar panels designed for domestic use will produce 250-400 watts, which are adequate to power any household appliance.
If you need to know how much power a solar panel produces in a day, you should multiply a wattage by the hours of sunlight. If you combine individual panels, you will be in an excellent position to make a solar system.
The following are factors that determine the output of each solar panel:
- Location
- Angle and direction
- Weather conditions
To understand more about how a solar panel produces power, there is a need to understand more about some of the basic units of energy. These units of power are watt and kilowatt , watt-hours , and kilowatt-hours
Watts and kilowatts are the units of power. They show the amount of energy that a solar panel can produce.
- 1000 watts = 1 kilowatt
Moreover, Watt-hour and kilowatt-hour are the units of energy. They show the amount of work that can be done in one hour.
- 1000 watt-hour = 1 kilowatt-hour
Lets take a look at a number of different examples as we calculate how much a solar panel produces per day, month, year, and for specific powered systems.
Read Also: What Is The Best Efficiency Of Solar Panels
Calculating The Size Of Your Solar Pv System
Now you know how much power you typically use and the times of day you use it. What capacity will your solar PV system need to be to cover your power usage?
First, we’re assuming you’ll have a grid-connected system. This is by far the most common type and it simply means you have solar panels generating electricity during the day, and a grid connection to supply electricity when the solar panels aren’t generating enough . See grid-connected vs off-grid for more.
How much electricity can you expect per kW of solar panels?
Solar PV systems are rated in watts or kilowatts . You’ll see systems described as 4kW, 5kW, 10kW and so on.
1kW of solar panels = 4kWh of electricity produced per day .
For each kW of solar panels, you can expect about 4kWh per day of electricity generation. So a 6.6kW solar system will generate about 26.4kWh on a good day .
It’s just a general rule the actual amount of electricity generated per kW of solar panels depends on your location, the time of year and the amount of sunlight you’re getting, the quality of the system, the orientation of the panels, how old they are, and so on. In southern regions such as Hobart it could be as low as 3.5kWh per day, while the same 1kW of panels in Darwin could generate 5kWh.
What About A Battery
A storage battery will capture the unused solar power generated during the day, for use at night and on low-sunlight days. Installations that include batteries are increasingly popular. See our case study of the first Australian home to install a Tesla PowerWall battery.
But for most homes, we think a battery doesn’t make economic sense yet. Batteries are still relatively expensive and the payback time will often be longer than the warranty period of the battery. However, it’s likely that battery technology and prices, together with future changes in how the electricity market works, will make batteries a good option for most homes within the next few years.
And remember: for most grid-connected systems, having a battery doesn’t necessarily protect you in the event of a blackout. You may still lose all power to your home, despite having solar panels producing power and a charged battery ready and waiting. This is because grid-connected systems have what’s known as “anti-islanding protection”. During a blackout, the grid and any engineers working on the lines must be protected from “islands” of electricity generation pumping power unexpectedly into the lines.
For most solar PV systems, the simplest way to provide anti-islanding protection is to shut down entirely. So, when it senses a grid blackout, your solar PV system shuts down and you have no household power at all.
Recommended Reading: How Much Power Does Tesla Solar Roof Generate
Solar Power For The Home: Benefits
A significant benefit to PV installation is a lower energy bill, but the magnitude of this benefit depends on the amount of solar energy that can be produced given the available conditions and the way in which utilities charge for electricity.
The first consideration is the solar irradiation levels available in the home’s geographical location. When it comes to using solar panels, being closer to the equator is generally better, but other factors must be considered. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory produces maps for the U.S. showing solar irradiation levels the tools on its website provide detailed solar information for specific locations within the U.S.
Similar maps and data are available in other countries as well, often from government environmental agencies or renewable energy organizations. Equally important is the home’s orientation for rooftop arrays, a south-facing roof without trees or other objects obstructing sunlight maximizes the available solar energy. If this is not available, panels can be mounted on external supports and installed away from the house, incurring additional costs for the extra hardware and cables.
The final benefit is the potential effect on a home’s value due to the addition of a solar array. In general, it is reasonable to assume that solar panels would raise the value of most homes.
How Much Does A 6kw System Cost
You can expect to pay $5,000 $9,000 to purchase and install a 6kw capacity solar system. The price provided includes a solar rebate from the federal or state government depending on where you live.
Every new solar customer is eligible to receive a rebate. Additionally, you must purchase your solar panels from an accredited installer.
Recommended Reading: What Insurance Companies Cover Solar Panels
Don’t Miss: How To Charge Your Electric Car With Solar Panels
How Much Electricity Does A Solar Panel Produce
Every solar panel, and solar power system, is different. So when answering questions such as how much electricity a solar panel produces, we need to consider a couple of important factors and do a bit of quick maths.
First things first. How do we actually work out how much electricity a solar panel produces?
Electricity output is measured in kWh , with most panels on the market today rated to produce between around 250 to 400 watts per day. Put together, the typical capacity of a household solar system is between 1kWh and 4kWh. This means that over the course of a year, a 4 kW solar power system on an average-sized house can produce up to around 3,000 kWh of electricity per year even taking into account sunlight hours.
As well as the amount of sun throughout the year, the amount of electricity outputted by a solar PV system can be influenced by panel size, placement and orientation, as well as prevailing weather conditions which might impact performance on a temporary basis.
How Much Solar Energy Can You Generate On Your Roof
The short answer? Probably way more than you need! According to our calculations, if you used every square foot of roof space on the average U.S. home, you could fit about 97 solar panels on an average roof resulting in about 31 kilowatts of solar panels on your roof. That translates to roughly 57,000 kilowatt-hours of solar electricity throughout the year! Considering the average U.S. home uses about 10,600 kWh of electricity annually, this is more than five times the amount youll probably need to run your whole home on solar.
You May Like: Do Solar Panels Need To Face The Sun
Kw Solar System And A 5kw Inverter
Most 6.6kW solar systems are quoted with a 5kW solar inverter
In Australia we have a federal based incentive to go solar known as STCs or Small Scale Technology Certificates. STCs are calculated on the size of the solar system, the installation State or Territory and the deeming period for these STCs.
The STC scheme allows the capacity of the inverter installed at the premises to be oversized with panels by 33%.
This same 33% rule carries across to the Clean Energy Council and your electricity distributor, who are the people who put up your poles and wires.
What this means is, the most panels you can legally put on a 5kW inverter to save money and help drive those headline prices is 6.6kWs. If you go over 6.6kWs you would need a bigger inverter or second inverter which then drives the price up which makes it hard for the high turnover, low margin retailers out there.
However, oversizing a 5kW inverter with 6.6kWs of solar panels is a good design move.
It would need to be the perfect day for your solar system to produce its total capacity not to mention site specific influences such as panel orientation. What is more important is the total daily generation of the solar system. A 5kW Solar System on a 5kW inverter will generate less then a 6.6kW Solar System on a 5kW inverter and the cost difference wont be much when you consider STCs.
