How Many Solar Panels Do You Need To Power Your Home?

Now the new norm for many homes, solar panels can be spotted on roofs all over the U.S., and if you’re thinking about joining the clean, green revolution, you’ll need to know how many panels are required to match your energy needs.

Before you start the process of solar panel installation, there are a few factors to take into account when determining how many panels will be required, such as your household’s average energy usage, how sunny your roof is, how much space there is up there, and its orientation.

Here are each of the factors in a little more detail:

Your household’s energy usage

An experienced and responsible solar panel installer will look at your last 12 utility bills to get a clearer picture of how much energy your household typically consumes. The total amount of electricity used should appear at the bottom of the bill, and will be displayed in kWh.

Sunlight hours

Of course you want your solar panels to be exposed to as much sunlight as possible, and in order to achieve this, your chosen installer must ensure that the panels are facing in the right direction. Generally speaking, your panels should get around 4 to 5 hours of sunlight a day to be able to offset your energy usage.

Space

The size of your roof will have a direct impact on the number of panels you’re able to have installed, and if you need to generate lots of electricity to meet your household’s needs, you’ll need plenty of roof space. If you don’t have a lot of available space on your roof, you can purchase high-efficiency solar panels and install less of them while still meeting your energy requirements.

Panel wattage

The amount of electricity panels emit, panel wattage may be different from one panel manufacturer to another, so it’s important to check this when purchasing your solar system. The majority of panels available on the market today are between 250 and 400 watts.  

So, how many panels will you need?

Here are a few things you need to know in order to figure out how many panels are required to supply you with enough energy:

• Your household’s energy usage
• Available space on the roof
• The amount of sunlight your home receives
• The wattage of the panels

Then, there are a few steps you need to take next:

• Measure your home’s annual electricity consumption in kWh
• Determine your panel wattage
• Estimate how much energy your system will produce, by looking at the amount of electricity produced based upon average daily sunlight hours, and then divide the system’s wattage by its annual electricity output. The U.S. estimate is between 1.3 and 1.6.
• Put the data into the following formula = kWh usage/production ratio/wattage

Knowing how many panels your solar system requires to generate enough energy to power your home, is something a local contractor can help you determine with ease. In fact, they can be a great resource when it comes to anything solar power related, so don’t be afraid to approach them if you’ve got questions about the process, or would like to take the next step towards reducing your carbon footprint, by scheduling a solar panel installation.

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