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How to Calculate Solar Power for Home Appliances
If you’ve been able to switch to solar, congratulations! You’ll now be able to cut how much you spend on electricity, and you won’t have to depend heavily on the national grid.
However, one of the biggest mistakes a lot of people out there make when installing solar panels is that they don’t calculate the amount of energy they’re going to make use of when solar is installed.
This can lead to them experiencing power outages or even spending unnecessarily on extra equipment.
We’ll try to walk you through a simple step-by-step process that you can use to calculate the amount of solar panels that you need to run your home appliances. So even if you want to power just a few devices or you want to go fully solar, this guide right here is going to help you make an easy decision.
Why Should You Calculate Your Solar Power Needs?
Before you decide to install a solar system in your home, it’s compulsory to calculate how much electricity your appliances consume. Here are some reasons why you must calculate your appliances:
a. Avoid power shortages:
If you end up underestimating the amount of solar energy that you need for your home, it could leave you without enough power that is needed to run all your appliances.
b. Prevent unnecessary expenses:
On the other hand, if you happen to overestimate the amount of energy you need, you are going to be spending extra money on solar panels and batteries that are not necessary.
c. Ensure system efficiency:
A proper calculation will help you get the most out of your solar system, which means more value for your investment.
Now that we have all these details in mind, it is time to go through the step-by-step process that we’ll need to calculate the solar power you will need for your home appliances.
Step 1: List All Appliances You Want to Power
The very first step you’ll need to take is to first of all make a list of all the appliances that you will need to run on your solar panels. Some of the appliances could include:
Lighting: They could be LED bulbs, tube lights, and outdoor lights.
Cooling and heating: This list contains appliances like fans, air conditioners, and heaters.
Kitchen appliances: This is where your refrigerators, microwaves, and blenders come in.
Entertainment devices: Take stock of your TVs, speakers, gaming consoles, etc.
Work appliances: Finally, your laptops, printers, mobile phone chargers, etc.
Each of these appliances that we’ve mentioned has a specific amount of electricity that they consume. Once you have been able to list all your appliances, you can then move to the next step, which is to check their ratings.
Step 2: Find the Power Rating of Each Appliance
Every electrical appliance comes with a power rating that is usually calculated in watts (W). This rating is usually printed on a label. Alternatively, you can also see them in the user manual.
For example, these common household appliances usually make use of the following power:
LED Bulb: 10W
Ceiling Fan: 75W
Refrigerator: 150W
Television: 100W
If you are unable to find the power rating of any of your appliances, you can always check the website of the manufacturers. Also, you can use estimates of other products that are similar to the one you are using.
Step 3: Calculate the Daily Energy Consumption
Once you are able to know the power rating of each of the appliances in your home, the next step is for you to calculate how much energy you are going to be consuming every day.
The formula is very simple:
Energy Consumption (Wh) = Power Rating (W) × Hours Used Per Day
Let’s say, for example, you make use of a 100W television for about 5 hours every day. Your energy consumption is going to be:
100W × 5 hours = 500Wh (or 0.5kWh per day)
If you repeat this process for all your appliances, then add up the total energy consumption, that way you will easily find out how much electricity your home will be needing every day.
Step 4: Determine the Total Solar Power Required
Now that you are aware of the total energy consumption of all your appliances, the next step is for you to know the size of the solar system that will be able to take care of your solar energy.
READ ALSO:Common Mistakes When Installing Solar Panels (And How to Avoid Them)
Since solar panels generate their own electricity in kilowatt-hours (kWh), you are going to convert all your total watt-hour (Wh) values into kWh:
Total kWh = Total Wh ÷ 1000
Let’s say, for example, if your total daily consumption is around 5000Wh, then:
5000Wh ÷ 1000 = 5kWh per day
What this simply means is that your home is going to be needing 5kWh of solar energy every day for it to be able to operate properly.
Step 5: Consider Sunlight Hours in Your Area
Also, the amount of electricity your solar panels generate will hinge on how many peak sunlight hours you get in your area every day. To find out how much solar power you are going to need, you should use this formula:
Solar Panel Capacity (kW) = Total Daily kWh ÷ Sunlight Hours Per Day
For example, if your home needs around 5kWh every day, and your area usually gets around 5 peak sunlight hours, then:
5kWh ÷ 5 hours = 1kW (or 1000W) of solar panels
Since solar panels are usually not 100% efficient because of bad weather and several other factors, you should add 25% to 30% extra capacity to compensate for power loss. So instead of going with 1kW, you should rather install around 1.3kW to 1.5kW of solar panels.
Step 6: Choose the Right Number of Solar Panels
Solar panels usually come with different capacities. You can get a capacity of anywhere around 100W to 400W per panel. For you to find out how many solar panels you will be needing, you should divide your total solar power requirements by the capacity of one panel.
For example, if you need 1.5kW (1500W) and you make use of 300W solar panels:
1500W ÷ 300W = 5 solar panels
What this simply means is that you will be needing 5 panels of 300W each before you are able to meet up with the energy you need.
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