Calculate Your Solar Panel Needs

Next you can estimate your average daily kwh usage by dividing your monthly usage by 30.

Calculate your solar panel needs.

For now calculate 30 of your homemade solar panel s rating. You probably consume more electricity during certain months of the. So the average american home in the average american city needs 6 62 kw of solar panels installed. That gives you 6 62 kw and some change.

Do not panic we will raise these numbers later. The first step is calculating the kilowatts needed. This takes into consideration the cheaper glass or plexiglass used in diy panels heating of the panels and lack of expensive electronics. You must simply divide the average daily kwh by the peak sun hours assuming a 30 day month an electricity generation of 1 000 kwh is equivalent to 33 33 kwh per day.

12 month usage map area number 0 85 system size. If you re following along at home here s the calculation so far so you can plug your own numbers in. For example if your solar panel is rated at 100 watts figure on about 30 watts output. Calculate solar panel costs for your home determine your average monthly electricity usage.

You calculate how many solar panels you may need by dividing the maximum hourly solar energy system output by the wattage output of one single panel. Calculating the number of solar panels needed to power your entire home involves determining your daily energy requirements finding the daily peak sunlight hours for your location and then dividing your overall needed watts by the watt rating for the solar panels you choose.