How many solar cells would I need in

order to provide all of the electricity that

my house needs?
If you have read the HSW article entitled How Solar Yard Lights Work, then you can get a feeling for how
much power a solar cellcan produce. The solar panel shown in that article contains 4 cells, and each of
them can produce 0.45 volts and 100 milliamps, or 45 milliwatts. Each cell measures 2 inches by 0.5
inches. In other words, with these solar cells you can generate 45 milliwatts in one square inch (6.45
square cm). For the sake of discussion, let's assume that a panel can generate 70 milliwatts per square
inch.
To calculate how many square inches of solar panel you need for a house, you need to know:

How much power the house consumes on average.

Where the house is located (so you can calculate mean solar days, average rainfall, etc.). This
question is impossible to answer unless you have a specific location in mind. We'll assume that on an
average day the solar panels generate their maximum power for 5 hours.
The first question is actually pretty interesting, so let's work on it.
A "typical home" in America can use either electricity or gas to provide heat -- heat for the house, the hot
water, the clothes dryer and the stove/oven. If you were to power a house with solar electricity, you would
certainly use gas appliances because solar electricity is so expensive. This means that what you would
be powering with solar electricity are things like the refrigerator, the lights, the computer, the TV, stereo
equipment, motors in things like furnace fans and the washer, etc. Let's say that all of those things
average out to 600 watts on average. Over the course of 24 hours, you need 600 watts * 24 hours =
14,400 watt-hours per day.
From our calculations and assumptions above, we know that a solar panel can generate 70 milliwatts per
square inch * 5 hours = 350 milliwatt hours per day. Therefore you need about 41,000 square inches of
solar panel for the house. That's a solar panel that measures about 285 square feet (about 26 square
meters). That would cost around $16,000 right now. Then, because the sun only shines part of the time,
you would need to purchase a battery bank, an inverter, etc., and that often doubles the cost of the
installation.
If you want to have a small room air conditioner in your bedroom, double everything.
Because solar electricity is so expensive, you would normally go to great lengths to reduce your electricity
consumption. Instead of a desktop computer and a monitor you would use a laptop computer. You would
use fluorescent lights instead of incandescent. You would use a small B&W TV instead of a large color
set. You would get a small, extremely efficient refrigerator. By doing these things you might be able to
reduce your average power consumption to 100 watts. This would cut the size of your solar panel and its
cost by a factor of 6, and this might bring it into the realm of possibility.

The thing to remember, however, is that 100 watts per hour purchased from the power grid would only
cost about 24 cents a day right now, or $91 a year. That's why you don't see many solar houses unless
they are in very remote locations. When it only costs about $100 a year to purchase power from the grid,
it is hard to justify spending thousands of dollars on a solar system.

How Many Solar Panels are Needed for

a 2,000 Square Foot Home?
Frequently people want to know how many solar panels they will need based on the
size of their home. However, the amount of electricity you use is more important for
solar electric system design than the square footage of your home. This is mainly
because peoples use of electricity varies in so many different ways.

Same House, Different Energy Situations

For instance, lets say two families live next door to each other in 2,000 square foot
homes. A young man lives in Home A with his fianc; they both work long hours and
often spend evenings out with friends. As a result, they dont use much electricity and
pay about $40 a month.
In Home B, two parents live with their two teenage children. They are either running the
heater or air conditioner and use electricity to filter their pool, meanwhile the teenagers
are always on their iPads, opening the refrigerator or watching TV. Since more people
live in the house and their lifestyle requires more energy, their electricity bills run at
about $325 a month.

Importance of Electricity Usage for Solar Panel Design

Even though they live in homes that are the exact same size, the family in Home B
would most likely need to invest in more solar panels to bring down their electricity
usage than the couple living in Home A. Even if the households were identical in
electric consumption, one home may have better solar exposure or less shade than
another, which can mean more or fewer panels.

Electricity usage is also important because most utility companies in Los Angeles and
Orange County limit the size of your solar system based on the amount of energy you
currently use. This number is usually determined by looking at how much electricity you
have used in the last 12 months.

Just Moved or Building Your Home? Heres How it Works

Of course, there are always some exceptions to the rule. If you have only lived in your
home for a few months or want to install solar panels on a home in construction, then
most utility companies let us estimate usage based on your homes square footage.
As an example, LADWP calculates this type of average at 2 watts for every square foot.
So, a 2,000 square foot home would be allowed a solar array of 4,000 watts.
Depending on the type of panel that you choose, a system of this size would be
anywhere from 12-18 solar panels. Keep in mind, this formula to estimate consumption
varies depending on who provides your electricity.
Another exception is sometimes made for people who are anticipating that their
electricity usage will go up. If you are planning to buy an EV (electric vehicle) or install
central air, for example, we can estimate the additional usage and factor it into the solar
panel design and cost. But, the utilities are sticklers! They will make us submit proof of
purchase along with the solar system application.
Here is a sample set of questions that a solar professional might use to calculate the
number of solar panels needed for your house:
1. What are the households energy requirements? Take out past electricity bills and look
for average usage. You want daily usage, so if your bill doesnt show a daily average, just
divide the monthly or annual average by 30 or 365 days, respectively, to determine your
daily average electricity usage. Your answer will be in kilowatt-hours (kWh). (And just in
case you are wondering, a kilowatt-hour is how much power you are using at any given time
multiplied by the total time the power is being used. If you run a 60w bulb all day, youre
using 1,440 watt-hours or 1.4kWh)
2. What is the target daily average? Solar panels dont operate at maximum efficiency at all
times. (See Solar 101: How Does Solar Energy Work?). Weather conditions, for example,
can temporarily reduce your systems efficiency. Hardware issues can also cause the
system to produce less energy than expected. Experts recommend adding a 25 percent
cushion to your target daily average to offset such inefficiencies.
3. How many hours of sunlight can you expect in your area? The peak sunlight hours for
your particular location will have a direct impact on the energy you can expect your solar
system to produce. For example, if you live in Phoenix you can expect to have a greater
number of peak sunlight hours than if you lived in Seattle. That doesnt mean a Seattle
homeowner wouldnt enjoy significant solar energy production; it just means the homeowner

would need more panels. Fortunately, the Renewable Resource Data Center provides this
information by state and for major cities. Divide your daily kWh requirement (see question
No. 1) by the number of daily peak sunlight hours. This gives you the amount of energy your
panels need to produce every hour in kilowatt-hours. Multiply this number by 1,000 to
convert your hourly power generation need to watts.
4. How many panels would provide my target hourly wattage? Heres where panel quality
makes a difference. Theres tremendous variation in solar panel capabilities and
performance. PV solar panels (most commonly used in residential installations) come in
wattages ranging from about 150 watts to 345 watts per panel, depending on the panel size
and the cell technology used to manufacture the modules. Divide your homes hourly
energy requirement by the solar panels wattage to calculate the total number of panels you
need. Do this for a high-wattage panel option and a lower-wattage option to establish a
range that will set your expectations realistically. This will give you the ideal number of
panels for your electricity generation needs. Next, a professional installer needs to assess
your roof architecture, angle to the sun and other factors to see if and how youd be able to
physically arrange that number of panels on your roof to achieve your daily energy
production goals. - See more at: http://us.sunpower.com/blog/2015/07/23/how-many-solarpanels-do-i-need-my-home/#sthash.ti0536p4.dpuf

HOW MANY SOLAR PANELS NEEDED TO POWER A

HOME?
Solar Panel System Size At A Glance
The follow image displays grid connected solar panel systems suitable for
various household sizes and an estimate of what each system will power. Its
important to consider that even if you purchase an entry level (~ 2kW) package that
wont supply all your electricity needs, it will still reduce your power bills considerably
up to $800 in savings each year, depending on household size and installation
location.

Download this system sizing infosheet (PDF)

Please note: the above assumes energy-efficient appliances in most instances and
average use (or use as indicated). Also note that all solar panels are not equal. For

example, a low quality panel may provide less output than labelled and may
also deteriorate faster. Energy Matters only supplies quality components
from reputable tier 1 and 2 manufacturers, such as REC who, like Energy Matters,
is a multi-award winning company.
Also bear in mind solar modules come in different sizes (wattages) so how
many solar panels youll need to power your house will vary depending on
the module chosen. Output of a system will also be affected by location
and installation orientation.
Another way to gauge how big a solar energy system youll need to power your
home is to review ourspecials pages for your state each package is accompanied
by an indication of annual electricity savings, which you can compare to your current
electricity expenditure.