How Many Solar Panels Do I Need For 1000 Kwh Per Month
Going green is one of the world’s most important things right now. Putting solar panels on your house can help slow down some of the effects of climate change and save you money on your energy bills in the long run.
That being said, every home has different energy needs. Find out how much solar energy is available in your area before you figure out how many solar panels you need to make 1000 kWh of power per Month.
After that, all that’s left is a little math to figure out how many solar panels you need.
How Many kWh Does a Solar Panel Produce per Month?
How much power a solar panel can make depends on its size and place near the sun.
Most residential solar panels, like the Solar Earth INC Solar Panels, have power rates of 100 to 400 watts. If your 400-watt board gets four hours of the sun’s hottest hours daily, it can make up to 1600 watt-hours (Wh) of energy daily.
You can turn this into 1.6 kWh per day and increase that number by 30 days to get the output for the whole Month. In this case, a 400-watt solar screen makes about 48 kWh of electricity monthly.
This estimate is based on the idea that the solar system is perfect, which is impossible. Your solar panel will not work well when it rains, snows, is dirty, or other weather conditions.
What Is the Solar Energy Potential in Your Area?
A solar panel’s ability to make electricity depends significantly on how much sunlight it gets. A solar panel in a sunny desert will produce a lot more electricity than the same panel in a cloudy and rainy place.
How many peak sun hours do you think your panels will get? This is the solar energy potential. For example, Phoenix, Arizona, receives an average of about 6 hours of peak sun daily, while cities like Portland and Seattle may only receive around 4 hours daily.
What Affects Solar Panel Output Efficiency?
Solar panels sometimes collect their total amount of power, though. A solar array may lose 10 to 20 percent of its power because of weather and dirt.
Let’s look at some reasons solar energy production is going down.
Temperature
Solar panels are generally tested at 77F (25C) to determine their power ratings. Right now, this is the best temperature for solar cells.
Things are sometimes different in the real world, though. Solar panels won’t work as well when it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
You can lessen the effects of bad weather by installing solar panels in the best way possible. Leave a space between the top and the panels to allow cool air to flow in hot places. You can also put fans over the hot boards to cool them down or move cold water near them to soak up some heat.
In cold places, snow is the biggest worry. If it snows a lot where you live, you’ll need to either put in a heating system or clear away the snow by hand after a storm. Even a panel that is only partly covered could make the rest of the system useless.
In snowy places, the slope of the solar panels is also very important. The best tilt is 53 degrees. If snow is on the panels, they might not take in full sunlight. Researchers have found that snow can cause as much as 1.6 to 5.3% of the sun’s energy to be lost yearly.
Dirty Solar Panels
You want them to get as much sun as possible to get the most power out of them. When dirt and grime build-up, they can block a lot of sunshine from reaching the photovoltaic cells. Your panels will stay clean if it rains, but that’s not always enough.
Check your screens often to make sure they are clean. If you see dirt building up, you should give them a hose-down. You can scrub the panels clean once or twice a year to keep them in great shape.
Wiring and Inverters
Power loss is common in solar systems because of the other parts that make them up. A small amount of power can be lost on long wire runs, like the ones that go from the panels to the battery or from the battery to the rest of the house.
Another thing to remember is that solar panels give off direct current (DC), but most homes use alternating current (AC). These factors mean that a DC to AC generator is needed in most home setups these devices cause a slight power loss.
So, How Big of a Solar System Do I Need for 1000 kWh per Month?
It’s easy to figure out how many solar panels are needed to provide 1000 kWh of power every Month:
monthly electricity use/monthly peak sun hours x 1000) / panel’s power rating
Monthly Electric Usage
Let’s say, for our example calculation today, let’s give energy to a home that needs at least 1000 kWh per Month. For our exam, look at your power bills from the past year to find out how much energy you use each Month. Find the most energy you use in a month. You should use this number to figure out how much solar energy you need. You can also add 5–10% to account for the fact that you will use more power in the future.
In 2021, the average American home used about 886 kWh of electricity each Month.
Monthly Peak Sun Hours
When figuring out the Month with the fewest hours of sunlight, you should use that Month. This Month is in the winter so most places will have a few sunny hours. Peak sun hours can be different where you live, but on average, you can count on four hours of sun each day.
For example, the best sun hours are 120 per Month, about per day.
Power Rating of Solar Panels
Most solar systems are made up of a group of similar solar panels wired together (in series or parallel). Solar panels come in many sizes and types, from tiny 10W panels to huge 1000W panels. But most panels for homes will have values between 160W and 400W.
Number of Solar Panels Needed for 1000 kWh
Start putting our numbers into the above equation.
First, we can split the amount of electricity we use each Month (1000 kWh) by the number of peak sun hours each Month (120). We now have 8.333 kW. We can multiply kilowatts by 1000 to get watts, the power used on most solar panel ratings. This gives us 8333 watts. Finally, we’ll divide 8333 watts by 400W, the panel’s power rating we picked. When we round it up, it gives us 20.83, which is 21 panels.
Based on this estimate, we would need 21 400-watt panels to collect enough energy to power a home for 1000 kWh. Still, make it slightly bigger to account for power loss from inverters and wet months.
How Many Watts Does a House Use?
Each Month, the average household uses between 800 and 1000 kWh of energy, up to about 9,600 to 12,000 kWh per year. This means that, on average, about 26 to 33 kWh, or 26,000 to 33,000 watt-hours, of energy are used daily, based on the number of days a year. These numbers show how much power the average home uses and can be used as a standard to understand and control how much electricity homes use.
Final Thoughts
It’s time to assemble the rest of your solar system now that you know how many panels you need. This will help slow down the effects of climate change before you know it.