Questions About Solar Panels And Those Without Answers

You must have heard of this: "How many real men do we need to change a light bulb?" Okay maybe this was a hard question. So let me ask an easier one. "How many solar panels should we install to have enough energy for all our needs?" Now that's the question we can answer using a simple calculator.

Our first step should be determining our power usage. We use lights, refrigerator, TV, computer and other electrical appliances… We can determine our monthly usage of each of these gadgets and bulbs. Look at the user's manual of your shaving machine, for example, to determine the voltage and ampere requirements. Multiply those numbers. Check the clock while you are shaving to determine the time of power usage for shaving. Do this calculation for each and everything that uses electricity in the household and add those numbers. Oh no! I give up. I don't want to install solar panels anymore… Hey, why don't we check our power bills? Let's look at our power bills for the last 12 months. Take the one with highest number and determine our usage, according to the Kwh written on that bill. Problem solved! No more timing while shaving…

Watts are volts multiplied by amperes. Our kilowatt usage means the number of 1000 watts an hour we use. According to the statistics published by US Energy Information Agency, an average house uses 8,900 Kwh annually. To be on the safe side we can exceed our estimated power need and start to calculate the number of solar panels. At last we will have a chance to use our precious little calculator.

First we should learn peak sun hours for our area. It may be between 5 to 8 hours according to our latitude. This is the period we should store enough power for 24 hours. We divide our yearly usage of watts to 365 to obtain the daily amount. Alternatively we can divide the watts written on our highest monthly bill to 30 or 31 according to the days in that month. Add a small estimate on this number to be on the safe side and we have our daily power need. On commercially sold solar panels, ampere and volt capacities are defined. We must multiply these numbers to acquire watts. Divide our daily need with peak sun hours to find out the power that must be generated. Now we have the number for hourly total we need generated. When we divide this number with watt capacity of one panel, we can find out how many solar panels we need.

The answer to the light bulb question is: "We need none, because real men are not afraid of the dark." As for the answer to our second question, which was "How many solar panels should we install to have enough energy for all our needs?" you must find the answer for yourself using the simple calculation formula we provided above. Once you understand the gist of it you could become a solar power expert and help everyone on your neighborhood calculate their power needs.


------

Learn more about DIY Solar Power, how many solar panels you'll need for a house, and see earth4energy reviews. Visit http://www.energy4living.hottipsonly.com/diy-solar-system-parts-components.html today!