The logical question: How many solar panels do I need?

Humans of Earth are responsible for the drastic climatic changes that we are now facing. In the hour of need, Solar Energy can play a vital role towards minimizing your carbon footprint. It is likely that most of your neighbors are making the shift towards solar energy.

As far as your household is concerned, installing a solar power module will be a good decision to make. A residential solar power module will help you save money on the monthly utility bills. It will also make you independent of the utility grid, depending on the rebate rate set in your region.

Now, what’s important is to know how many solar panels you will need to meet the daily energy needs. Here’s how you can calculate the number of solar panels you’ll need:

Mathematical Considerations

Your home’s utility bill mentions the powerconsumption in kilowatt-hours. However, it will only tell the gross monthly usage. To calculate the daily power consumption, divide the gross by 30.   

Note that, variousSolar panels produce different amounts of solar energy depending upon the total solar flux the installation area receives.

An example for the logic:

Hawai gets more sunshine than Alaska, so conversion efficiency will be more in Hawaii.

Also, some solar panels are more efficient than others, hence more expensive.

So to answer the logical question, “how many solar panels do I need?” will be:

To calculate the total number of panels you will need, divide the total power consumption with the wattage of a single solar panel that you intend to use.

On an average, commonly used commercial solar panels are of 275 Watts-285 watts for commercially available 60-cell solar modules.

Though power consumption also varies from region to region and also depends upon the size of the house.

Google Project Sun

If you want a more accurate and trustworthy estimate of your power needs, consider google project sunroof.

Below is the screenshot of how the tool works.

You enter the address of the place which, used in the screenshot is 15 Glendale Ave, Somerville, MA 02144, USA.

This area receives 1,456 hours of usable sunlight per year.

On an average power bill of $100, a 4 K.W. solar panels(which will cover an average of 282 ft^2) will fulfill 98% of a roof in this particular area.

To get a more detailed and in-depth analysis of all your energy needs, visit solarmyplace.com, and we’ll be happy to help!