The amount of energy your home uses over a certain timeframe say a month is measured in kilowatt hours kwh.
How many solar panels to power your house.
Our online solar calculator can take your monthly power bill and location to work out how many solar panels you need as well.
If you only want your solar panels to subsidise part of your home s electricity usage you can install a smaller number of solar panels.
Gregg garrison general manager of northeast solar in hatfield ma gave some guidelines for the average homeowner regarding the number of panels to power both electrical and hot water requirements.
The amount of power kwh your solar energy system can produce depends on the number of solar panels that can absorb solar energy and convert it into electricity.
Based on the example above if this household wants solar panels to cover just 70 of their home s electricity usage they d only need 6 solar panels 11 1 35 x 0 7.
While many factors are involved in determining how many solar panels are needed to power your home there is a basic formula.
Another way to gauge how big a solar energy system you ll need to power your home is to review our specials pages for your state.
A typical american home will need 14 36 solar panels to cover their power bill and at least 227 square feet of rooftop space to accommodate the solar panels.
Now you know how much energy you need it s time to think about your location.
The amount of energy that solar panels can absorb and then produce is measured in kilowatts kw.
The typical homeowner will need 28 34 solar panels to cover 100 of their energy usage dependent on location and roof size.
Output of a system will also be affected by location and installation orientation.
Solar panels don t always work at 100 efficiency since they depend on sunlight.
A home that consumes 1 000 kwh per month will normally need between 20 and 30 solar panels.
But if the building is a fair distance from the house so that wiring it would be a hassle or a large expense consider a solar powered system.
The exact number changes depending on the specifications of the chosen panel model as well as the sunshine available at the project site.
Your location as where you live determines how much electricity your solar panels can produce.
Assuming you are going to choose standard efficiency solar panels here are the most common sizes for residential solar systems and their kwh production potential to give you an idea.
To get these numbers we used high and low panel production ratios to calculate how many solar panels are needed on average.
How many solar panels do i need to power my house.
The number of solar panels you will need to power your house will depend on two factors.
The amount of electricity you use.