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Posts Tagged ‘Residential Solar Panels’

This article will deal with the cost of solar panels. There are two important things to take into consideration: the cost of a single solar panel, and the cost of enough solar panels to power a house. Solar Panels are the part of the system that does the actual conversion of sunlight to current and are the most critical element in the systems ability to power your home. To learn more about the heart of any solar power system, visit Residential Solar Panels.

Something that a lot of people don’t realize is how simple it can be to build your own solar panels. All it takes is a few common tools, the right knowledge, and a little bit of effort, and you can put together your own solar panel for as little as 0. Can you build your own solar panel for less than 200 dollars? You can get more information by looking at this guide Homemade Solar Panel. In this guide, you will get specific instructions on what is best to build based on the size of your house and your location. Additionally, you will also get step-by-step diagrams on how to build your solar power system.

Also, it’s worthwhile to look into the various federal, state and local tax credits, rebates and incentives that can help homeowners pay for this kind of project. Incentives like these can, in some cases, help reduce the cost of establishing a solar power system by up to half. Check your local and state government websites for more info.

If you want to know how much power you need from your solar power system, you’ll need to know the amount of power your household uses. Your monthly electicity bills – may be offered online by your utility provider if you don’t have some old copies handy – will show you how many kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity you’re using per month. Multiply the kWh figure by 1000 to find the number of watt-hours you’re using per month. Divide this number by 30 to get your average daily electricity usage in watt-hours. If you then divide this number by the average number of hours of sunlight that you get in your location, you’ll arrive at the last figure you need. To be safe, it’s recommended that you use the number of hours of sun for the day in the year that has the least amount of sunlight, so that your calculation doesn’t come up short. This final figure represents the amount of electricity per hour that you’ll need your solar power system to produce.

An installed system will usually cost you somewhere in the -9 per watt range. Multiply the figure from the previous step by . This will give you an estimate of the cost for a number of solar panels sufficient to power your home.

I’ve created a solar power calculator spreadsheet to assist you with all these calculations. Just enter the kWh figure from your electric bill, and the speadsheet will give you a total for the cost of solar panels to power your entire home. The calculator is included in my 6 part mini course on solar and wind power for the home.

Now, you have an idea as to how much it will cost to power your home completely through solar power. It’s probably a fair amount of money; initial cost is one of the biggest complaints about solar power. Keep in mind that tax credits, rebates and incentives can reduce the price significantly. Also, building your own solar panels can bring the cost down even further.

What is solar power generation? To learn more about this interesting topic, you can go to Solar Power Generation.

The main component of any residential solar power system is the solar panels. They do the actual conversion of sunlight to electricity and are at the heart of the solar system that provides energy to your home. There are a number of differences between solar panels, even though many panels look alike, and the homeowner must consider several things before selecting which panels to use for his or her home. A great set of plans for building your own solar panel is GreenDiyEnergy.

All modern solar panels are much better than older panels in both construction and efficiency. It doesn’t matter what style of panel you are looking for, you will be better off with modern panels than you would have been even a few years ago. While it is true that all of the newer panels are much better than in the past, there are many differences between different models of solar panels so selecting a panel should be done based on both your budget and how much electricity you need to produce.

First of all, you need to consider how much output voltage the system you are building needs. Residential solar panels have several standard voltage levels and you need to choose with one to use for your system. This choice concerning voltage level will have an impact on which solar panels you use as well as which power inverter you select. There are advantages to using higher voltage panels like less power loss in the long runs of wire, however higher voltage panels are also more expensive. Residential solar panels usually have output voltages of 12, 24 or 48 volts and there are some that are even higher. It is generally best to select panels with the highest voltage level that your budget allows.

Voltage level will also affect which solar system charge controller you select.

Another difference between different types of panels is efficiency. The efficiency difference between different panels, even ones that look the same, can be as much as 10%. From a given level of sunlight, 10% higher efficiency will mean a huge difference in the amount of electricity produced. Over the life of the panel, this difference in electricity generated will be really big. Because of this, you will need less space for panels and you will need to spend less money because you will need fewer panels. You should generally choose panels with the highest efficiency rating you can afford. If you spend a little more money now and get a better quality panel, you will get that difference back many, many times over the life of the solar panel.

Some of the newer specialty solar panels should also be considered. There are some panels that combine solar electric panels with solar thermal panels in one package. These can be used for both electricity and hot water. You will get the most efficient use of roof space with these panels and also get double the benefit.

Solar panels that include a micro inverter are another newer development. A micro inverter is a power inverter that is build into the solar panel. It is sized to work with just the amount of electricity the panel outputs. A power inverter converts the DC electricity from a solar panel or battery into the AC power that your appliances need. The typical configuration is to the have all of the panels and batteries feed a single, larger power inverter than does the conversion for the whole system. With a micro inverter in each solar panel, you can build up your system slowly rather than having to pay up-front for a larger power inverter to support all the panels you will eventually buy. This means you can build your solar system up little-by-little, but still get the benefit of AC power from the system at every step. Higher voltage AC electricity coming from the panels also means less power loss in the wires. For much more information on micro inverters, visit Solar Panel Micro Inverter.

Solar power is being considered by an increasingly large amount of homeowners each year as electricity costs continue to rise. As energy cost caps expire or are removed, those energy costs rise even further. Installing a residential solar power system on your house is one way to “get off the grid. Each homeowner’s situation and energy consumption varies and will determine the capacity your residential solar power system will need, but switching could save you thousands of dollars in the ensuing decades.

Counting the Savings

Saving money on energy costs is possible. The only cost to a home solar system is the upfront installation costs. The installation costs usually average $20,000, significantly more than what you would spend on energy consumption costs over a decade or two. Eventually though, the system will pay itself off, offset by rises in energy costs. You may also be eligible to receive a tax credit from your government. These tax credits could decrease your upfront installation fees of your home solar power system saving you even more money. No matter the size of the residential solar power system that you use, it will pay itself off in about ten years or so.

Another interesting thing to note is that if you end up producing more electricity than you use, the energy company will buy it back from you. During the winter, there may not be sufficient sunlight for your solar power system to produce excess amounts of electricity. Homeowners have other options to maximize their savings even further. Simple upgrades to things like insulation and windows can add hundreds of dollars of savings a year. A home can easily save hundreds of dollars a year simply by replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones.

”Getting off the grid” is often not cheap, and requires diligent changes in your life style, that will pay off in the long-run. In the coming years, it will become even cheaper and more efficient to make homes green. New methods not only mean that homes will consume less energy, but also that they may be able to provide their own energy. Adding a home solar power system to your home or business is one way to get on board with America’s drive to become less dependent on man-made sources of energy.