How Many Solar Panels Do You Need?
Every home is a different story. The number of appliances used differs in every household. Although, the simplest answer to the question goes as easy as a YES. There are numerous other factors that need to be considered. Take a quick look:
Calculate Your Electric Consumption
To know how much solar power you require, it is a must to ascertain your current consumption. On an average, an electrified Indian residence consumes 250-270 (units) kWh/month. To find out your monthly consumption, take a look at your electricity bills. Now divide this amount by 30 and later by 24 to find out your hourly power requirement.
This is the amount of energy that you want to generate through Solar panels if you want to operate entirely on Solar.
Calculate Amount of Sunlight You Receive
The next step is to discover the duration of sunlight you receive on your roof. If you live at a location that encounters more hours of peak sunlight, you will need to install lesser panels. Now multiply the hourly usage that you calculated in the first step by 1000 to convert it into watts. Multiply this amount with the average hours of sunlight you receive every day. The final number is your daily requirement of energy. Moreover, you must always consider a 25% flux as solar energy generation depends upon the sun fully and as a result, it can fluctuate as per the weather.
Let's take an example for a house that requires 240 kWh/month and gets 5 hours of sunlight every day.
240/30/24 = 0.33 kWh - hourly requirement while using grid
0.33*1000*5 = 1650 watts - hourly wattage requirement
Calculate the Number of Panels You'll Require
Solar panels come in a varied range from 100 watts to 400 watts. There are multiple varieties of solar modules based on quality and efficiency. Your main concern before buying solar modules should be the efficiency of solar modules that you invest in. Now, the number of panels you require can be calculated by dividing your requirement by the production of the panel you want to select. Let us take our previous example again;
1650 (your requirement) / 330 (solar panel production) = 5 panels.
This gives you the number of panels you require under the standard terms. But there are various other factors that affect the efficiency of the panels such as the direction they are placed in, space at your rooftop, the circulation of wind and rest. Do not stress out! We are here to your rescue. Pixon provides EPC services that determines the needs and setup requirements taking into consideration the space available on your property, strength of your roof, and other geographical and electrical aspects.
To save you from all these efforts, we offer a solar calculator which helps you to figure out which system is the most beneficial for you to install and gives you a brief cost estimation too.
Yet, if you are a bit baffled, you can always invest in a battery to store the extra energy or choose a grid-connected solar system. Anyhow, going solar is the best alternative to other conventional energies.