Understandably, most people do not have in-depth knowledge of the various system options and the very first step we take when doing a consultation (after confirming the primary objective of our potential client) is to give them a basic overview of the types of solar systems out there.
Solar power is an alternative, renewable energy source that helps make the planet greener and can also give solar powered homes and businesses great financial incentives and tax credits.
Many homeowners consider solar energy because of these benefits but are unsure of how solar energy works. Understanding the basics of how solar energy can power your home or business is important for deciding if solar power is the right choice investment for you.
Solar energy is collected and turned into electricity by photovoltaic solar panels. Any home or business that switches to solar energy will have some sort of solar panels installed on the property. But how, exactly, do these solar panels work and bring electricity to your home?
There are numerous sizes of
solar panels available. However, due to solar panel manufacturers producing
larger panels, it would be best to buy 450W panels and up.
The average household uses between
six and fourteen 455W solar panels and up to around twenty-three panels for
bigger homes. But, it depends on the space you have available, your electricity
usage and the parameters of your inverter.
Find your average monthly usage in
kW, divide that by 30 (days in the month) then divide that number by 5.5
(average peak sun hours per day in South Africa). This will give you the size
of the array that you’ll need. Then you take your array size and divide that by
the watt rating of a panel like a 455W panel to find out how many solar panels
you’ll need.
EG:
900kWh average monthly usage / 30 days = 30kWh daily usage
30kWh / 5.5 average maximum production hours = 5454.54kWh array size needed
5454.54kWh / 455W solar panel rating = 11.988 solar panels needed so round it
up to 12.
Solar Panels can last 20 years and
sometimes even up to 30 years. Ensuring that your system is in good health, you
should see your solar equipment running smoothly well into the future.
The number of panels you will need
within a 5kW system is entirely dependent on the parameters of the inverter.
You will first need to check what the maximum PV array input is and secondly,
check the voltage ranges of the inverter. You do not want to exceed either of
those 2 parameters.
Your solar panels should be in the
sun all day to be able to produce solar power. So north-facing is best in South
Africa. However, if your roof is not north-facing, you can still produce solar
power by installing two arrays, one on the east and one on the west-facing
roof. That way your east-facing array will produce solar power in the morning
and your west-facing roof will produce solar power in the afternoon. To do
this, you will need a high voltage inverter with 2 MPPTs or 1 MPPT with a
combiner box.