The question is simple: how many solar panels do I need? Calculating the size of your solar system begins Since most people prefer to generate enough energy for their own utility bills exclusively, the first step is to calculate the capacity of the solar panel to provide enough power for your household consumption. You must eventually determine how many kilowatt-hours of electricity you need and choose the best device size and number of solar panels for your home.
When average household consumes about 10,400 kWh / year and we expect solar panels of approx. 250 watts, we can calculate the average number of panels required by using the high and low panels. Typical homeowner would need a minimum of 28 to 34 solar panels, depending on position and roof size, to cover 100% of electricity consumption.
For those who wonder how we calculated those energy usage numbers and how many solar panels were expected, here is the breakdown. If you want to understand how many kilowatt hours of electricity you will need, look at how much in a year. Most utilities offer you total power consumption on your monthly bill for the last 12 months. One kWh is 1.000 watts of power per hour to have any context. So if you have 20 lights in your home and they all use 50watt bulbs, you would use up to one kWh of electricity for every light in your house for one hour.
We compared Arizona and Maine’s 1,31 and 1,61, the highest and lowest solar panel ratios in the United States to find a range for the solar panel number. We took 11 000 kWh and then split the number into 250 (the standard wattage panel). The ratios were split by 250. For the average number of panels, this calculation gave us high and low numbers.
The power (kWh) that you can generate your solar electricity system depends on how much sunlight your roof is open to. The sunshine you receive in one year will depend on both where and what time of year you are in the country. California is sunnier than New England every year. But you can generate enough power at each location to meet your energy requirements! You just have to have a larger system installed at home if you live in an area which gets less sunshine.
The total energy usage of an American household is about 10,400 kWh a year in two relatively large households in California and in Massachusetts. The household of California requires a network of 7.0 kW to support 100% of its electricity consumption. In contrast, the Massachusetts household requires a network of 8.8 kW to meet its electricity requirements. California’s solar panel systems are less than Massachusetts’ solar panel systems, but can generate the same amount of power each year because they are exposed to more sunlight.