How to Determine How Many Solar Panels Your Home Needs

The first and most important, thing that a customer asks before buying a solar panel is - how many of these panels will I need? First of all you need to learn a few essential electrical terms before buying a solar panel for residential purpose.

Power is measured by a unit called a watt. Some appliances' electrical capacity is measured in kilowatts, because these appliances use more electricity then many other household electric devices. Electrical companies most commonly measure electric power in the form of kilowatt hours. One example of this is that if you leave ten 100watt electric bulbs in use for one hour then you are running 1 KW (kilowatt) / H (hour) [ten bulbsx100watts each working for one hour =1000watts for 1hr=1kwh].

The next term to know is volt. The force of flow of electricity from an electrical supply is expressed in terms of volts. Higher voltage plug outlets give out more electrical power and for that reason you have 120volt outlets and 240volt outlets.

Amps are another electricity measuring unit. They are used to determine the potency of the electricity that is present in an electric wire or an appliance.

Some factors should be taken notice of while deciding how many solar panels to buy in order to get enough power for your home. Before getting a solar panel you need to glance over your electricity bill and your previous year's trends. Past usage is usually a very close indication of future usage, remember to use the entire year as it will vary from month to month depending on weather. On average most American households' use approximately 1000-1200kwh per month, with the number rising in winter in colder climates.

Now, do you speculate that your usage of electric power has gone up? Did you downsize your electrical use? Many solar experts believe it is best to err on the side of too many solar panels as power companies are required by federal regulations to buy back any excess power at a premium rate; this means you actually make money every month if you go a little overboard. Common measures of solar panels are 4'5" by 2'2" and, at the crest, the energy level is 120 watts. At this rate, one panel turns out to give about 1.04kwh a day at maximum power, which means good sun conditions. An average family unit, using 100kwh each month, needs to purchase right around 30-35 solar panels to ensure that their home is always powered by sunlight.

Also remember that some days may not be sunny, if this is the case you may elect to purchase additional solar panels and batteries so you have some backup electricity for a couple days of no sunlight.