If you are interested in the idea of providing your household with free, environmentally friendly energy and you are considering having a solar panel array installed, one of the most basic requirements to keep in mind is the number of solar panels you need .
There are many factors that determine how many you need to use and how many you can actually buy. This includes but is not limited to the results of your energy use target calculations (how much energy your home appliances and appliances require to function properly), the budget you have available, and the type of solar panel you use.
Prices can also vary depending on whether you are considering buying a high-tech solar system or you want to build your own panels from cheaper materials. Lepanneausolaire.fr As such, the number of solar panels you can put together in an array may vary, and their quality may also need to be evaluated.
Calculation of energy consumption
If you want to determine exactly how many solar panels you need, it’s important to measure the amount of energy a solar panel can provide and compare it to the value you need. Considering that a typical household uses around 8000 – 9000 kWh annually and the fact that a good quality $300 solar panel can only provide around 100 – 200 watts of energy, the number of panels you will need to power your supplying the entire house with electricity can be very high.
Of course, depending on your needs, you don’t always have to use so much energy on a regular basis. Especially if you’re an environmental enthusiast and know how to choose devices that offer better functionality while consuming less energy, you might be able to cut that number in half or even less.
If you’re looking to build your own solar panel, you may find that the cost of manufacturing a standard 36-cell solar panel can effectively be reduced to under $200. Depending on the quality of your home-made solar system, you only need about 30 or 40 modules to provide enough electricity for your entire house.
This number may still be too high, but it can be reduced if you want to use an additional type of energy, such as wind power. This can provide you with more energy on cloudy and rainy days when the solar panels are not working so well, reducing the need for panels by half or even less.
Be careful as different types of solar cells provide different amounts of energy. However, you can easily calculate the energy yield: After you have built your DIY solar panel, measure the current and voltage it produces and multiply them to get the watt value. A small 6 amp solar panel producing 12 volts, for example, will therefore provide around 72 watts.
Well, a solar panel this weak might not give you too much power, but the good news is that there are many inexpensive panels on the market that can give you twice the power, and you don’t have to pay more than $300-$400 for them a. A solar array made up of 10 to 20 of these panels would therefore be a viable option when looking to power a large number of low energy devices or appliances.
Different solar panel types
The rate and efficiency at which solar panels can convert solar energy into electricity also plays a role in determining how many solar panels you need.
For example, in modules with monocrystalline solar cells, the amount of sunlight needed to generate a given amount of energy is far less than in thin-film or polycrystalline cells.
In 2010, a company that manufactures high quality monocrystalline solar panels broke the world record for solar energy efficiency by producing solar cells that could convert more than 24% of the sun’s rays into usable electrical energy.
Some researchers even think that in a few years it might be possible to produce monocrystalline solar cells that can exceed the 30% or even the 40% mark, significantly increasing the efficiency of this type of solar cell and that of solar energy in general.
A good example of the energy efficiency these solar panels can offer would be that a solar panel with a total of 36 monocrystalline cells can generally produce around 100-130 watts. Practically this means that if you want to achieve 1 kw (1000 watts) you need about 10 of these panels. Prices for this plan can range from $3000 to $5000 depending on the quality and brand of the panel.
In contrast to these results, technologies with polycrystalline cells today hardly come close to the 20% limit, while thin-film-based technologies hardly ever achieve an efficiency of around 15 to 17%.
While these figures indicate the technological superiority of monocrystalline PV cells, they do not prove that buying such modules is the best decision. In this case, you don’t need that many modules to achieve a total output of around 1 to 3 kW, but the problem is that the more monocrystalline solar modules you buy, the greater the price difference.
You can also opt for a lower energy efficiency and better price option to save money. In this regard, polycrystalline cells are far better, as they are not as weak as thin-film based technologies and are slightly cheaper than monocrystalline solar cells.
Budget Issues
Nowadays everyone usually thinks about budget issues when it comes to buying or manufacturing a solar panel. Homemade solar panels are obviously cheaper, but the difference in quality can be huge, not to mention it takes a lot of work if you want your new panels to work properly.
On the other hand, if you decide to buy a solar panel, you already have all the numbers you need about how many watts it produces and how stable it is. With some simple math, you can then calculate exactly how many of these devices you need to meet your energy goal.
The main problem with this is that there are many brands that focus on offering different types of solar panels based on a variety of different technologies. As a result, you may find it difficult to decide between them and you have to look around numerous websites to find out what previous buyers think of a particular product.
Most people would believe that around $3000 to $8000 would be enough for a viable solar panel assembly; However, depending on your needs and the technology you want to use, the numbers can double. Fortunately, most manufacturers are already beginning to develop better technologies that will allow people to buy more efficient solar systems at a significantly lower price.
However, you must consider all options and avoid sticking with some brands just because they have a more “catchy” marketing agenda. Ultimately, the numbers tell you everything you need to know and you can decide for yourself what types of panels you should buy and how many of them you need.
Summary
You will often find that the company you are doing business with will actually provide you with a viable plan for managing energy usage and the number of solar panels. Based on your budget and the capability of the solar power system you need, they can often give you an accurate estimate of how much energy you can get from your purchase.
Be careful though, as different brands sometimes come up with new technologies that are cheaper, more effective and would make other companies’ designs seemingly obsolete. Perhaps then you will actually realize that new opportunities can arise at every step of the way.
