So you'd like to convert to solar power. Naturally, most people considering this project want to know "How Much?" Consumers often assume the overall size of their home can be translated into a cost estimate, but that is probably the least significant factor in determining solar panel prices [http://www.diyhomepowergrid.com/solar-panel-prices].
Sure, homes with higher square footage generally use more energy and have more roof space, but beyond those two generalities, the home's size is at most a secondary factor.
Geographic location is key because it suuggests the amount of direct sunlight you receive on your southern exposure. Also important is the amount of electricity you use and how much of that you intend to replace with solar power. The combination of these factors will determine the number of panels needed and therefore impact the price.
Different panels have diferent efficency ratings, which expresses the amount of energy the solar cells can produce per square inch. Higher efficiency means fewer and/or smaller panels required. So as you can start to see individual solar panel prices are somewhat meaningless without first knowing how many panels you need. Having said all that, you can estimate solar panel prices at around $9 per watt professionally installed.
Here's a quick guideline for estimating the requirements to run a home entirely on solar power.
1) Take the Kilowatt hours (KWH) from your monthly electric bill and divide by 30 to get your kilowatt hours per day.
2) Estimate how many hours each day that your location receives direct sunlight - this should be an average.
3) Divide your daily kilowatts by the daily hours of direct sunlight to determine the amount of power you will need to "collect" during those hours of direct sunlight. Then multiply the result by 1.2, which allows you to slightly oversize the system and account for fluctuations in sunlight. Most experts agree on this step.
4) Finally, multiply the result by 1,000 to convert the kilowatts back to watts.
This is a simple example using some numbers for an average home.
If you use 1,000 KWH per month, divided by 30, you use 33.33 KWHs per day. If you get 5 hours of direct sunlight per day, you need to collect 6.66 Kilowatts per direct sunlight hour throughout the day (33.33 daily kilowatts divided by 5 hours = 6.66 kilowatts needed per hour).
Multiply the resulting 6.66 by 1.2 to properly size your system and you get 7.99 Kilowatts needed during each hour of direct sunlight. (6.66 * 1.2).
Finally, multiply this result by 1,000 to convert back to watts and you get 7,990 watts per hour.
So replacing 1,000 KWHs per month of electricity will require that you can generate 7,990 watts during each peak hour. At $9 per watt, it will cost approximately $72,000 to entirely power the home on with solar.
Remember, although you are creating enough energy during the peak sunlight hours to power your house for the complete 24 hour period, you will still need a way to power your home when the sunlight is gone.
You can do this in one of two ways. First, you can collect the extra energy you produce during the day in batteries and run your home on that battery power when the sun isn't shining. Batteries will increase your costs by another 25%.
The other option is to sell the excess power back to the electric company during the hours that you are producing more than you consume. You would then switch over to public electricity for the rest of the day. This method offsets the electricity you purchase against that which you sell back. Either way, you can see that solar panel prices are only a portion of the total cost for solar powering your home.
This planning process may seem complicated at first, but after you read through it a few times, it will begin to make sense. Visit us for more on solar panel prices [http://www.diyhomepowergrid.com/solar-panel-prices] and ways to drastically reduce the cost the DIY way.
Sure, homes with higher square footage generally use more energy and have more roof space, but beyond those two generalities, the home's size is at most a secondary factor.
Geographic location is key because it suuggests the amount of direct sunlight you receive on your southern exposure. Also important is the amount of electricity you use and how much of that you intend to replace with solar power. The combination of these factors will determine the number of panels needed and therefore impact the price.
Different panels have diferent efficency ratings, which expresses the amount of energy the solar cells can produce per square inch. Higher efficiency means fewer and/or smaller panels required. So as you can start to see individual solar panel prices are somewhat meaningless without first knowing how many panels you need. Having said all that, you can estimate solar panel prices at around $9 per watt professionally installed.
Here's a quick guideline for estimating the requirements to run a home entirely on solar power.
1) Take the Kilowatt hours (KWH) from your monthly electric bill and divide by 30 to get your kilowatt hours per day.
2) Estimate how many hours each day that your location receives direct sunlight - this should be an average.
3) Divide your daily kilowatts by the daily hours of direct sunlight to determine the amount of power you will need to "collect" during those hours of direct sunlight. Then multiply the result by 1.2, which allows you to slightly oversize the system and account for fluctuations in sunlight. Most experts agree on this step.
4) Finally, multiply the result by 1,000 to convert the kilowatts back to watts.
This is a simple example using some numbers for an average home.
If you use 1,000 KWH per month, divided by 30, you use 33.33 KWHs per day. If you get 5 hours of direct sunlight per day, you need to collect 6.66 Kilowatts per direct sunlight hour throughout the day (33.33 daily kilowatts divided by 5 hours = 6.66 kilowatts needed per hour).
Multiply the resulting 6.66 by 1.2 to properly size your system and you get 7.99 Kilowatts needed during each hour of direct sunlight. (6.66 * 1.2).
Finally, multiply this result by 1,000 to convert back to watts and you get 7,990 watts per hour.
So replacing 1,000 KWHs per month of electricity will require that you can generate 7,990 watts during each peak hour. At $9 per watt, it will cost approximately $72,000 to entirely power the home on with solar.
Remember, although you are creating enough energy during the peak sunlight hours to power your house for the complete 24 hour period, you will still need a way to power your home when the sunlight is gone.
You can do this in one of two ways. First, you can collect the extra energy you produce during the day in batteries and run your home on that battery power when the sun isn't shining. Batteries will increase your costs by another 25%.
The other option is to sell the excess power back to the electric company during the hours that you are producing more than you consume. You would then switch over to public electricity for the rest of the day. This method offsets the electricity you purchase against that which you sell back. Either way, you can see that solar panel prices are only a portion of the total cost for solar powering your home.
This planning process may seem complicated at first, but after you read through it a few times, it will begin to make sense. Visit us for more on solar panel prices [http://www.diyhomepowergrid.com/solar-panel-prices] and ways to drastically reduce the cost the DIY way.
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