Due to the threat of climate change and electricity prices that are ever-increasing, there’s never been a better time to switch over to solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. PVs have become more efficient and affordable with the advancement of technology—making them even more appealing as a way to save money on energy bills.
Before you get caught up into buying something you don’t actually need, you’ll want to do a bit of research to find out how much electricity your household needs and how PV alternatives hold up in your area.
Determine your Household’s Electricity Consumption
Get all your electricity bills from the last year together in order to estimate your typical power usage from each month. This calculation of the average electricity consumption of your household is vital because of the peaks and valleys inherent in the micro scale of things.
Total up all of the kWhs for every month of the year and divide what you get by 12 to figure out your normal monthly energy usage. Divide your monthly number by 30 to find out the kWh usage on average each day.
OPTIONAL: To assess your household’s electricity needs ever more accurately, write down each one of your appliances as well as the power usage each one consumes in wattage. Don’t forget to mark whether it’s DC or AC power.
Write down the number of hours each appliance was used per week. Multiply the hours/week by the watts to calculate how much you use each appliance by the watt-hours per week. You could also determine what the energy consumption was for specific appliances by installing an electricity monitor. Letting the monitor measures of the electricity for a week gives the watt-hours per week that we just calculated on paper.
Put the numbers you’ve gathered into a load sizing document. Go through the worksheet and enter in any leftover calculations to find out the number of amp hours you appliances used each day in total.
Find Out Insolation
You can get a solar insolation table on the internet to find out the insolation. This is a calculation of the normal number of hours the sun produces peak sunlight each day in your region. Locate the city closest to you on the table and record the daily figure’s average.
To discover the specific insolation information for specific days of the year, make use of NASA’s Atmosphere-Ocean Model.
Choosing the Best PV System
Calculate the amount of room you have to install your solar panels and how they will need to be mounted. Choose a budget that will work best for your solar system. Make sure the system you choose meets power requirements, but will fit inside your space limitations.