Average KWH Generated From Solar Panels:

• 200 watt solar panel produces on average .850 kwh per day
• 200 watt solar panel produced on average 25.5 kwh per month
• 200 watt solar panel produces on average 306 kwh per year
• 180 watt solar panel produces on average .765 kwh per day
• 180 watt solar panel produces on average 22.95 kwh per month
• 180 watt solar panel produces on average 275.4 kwh per year
• 175 watt solar panel produces on average .743 kwh per day
• 175 watt solar panel produces on average 22.31 kwh per month
• 175 watt solar panel produces on average 267.75 kwh per year
• 150 watt solar panel produces on average .6375 kwh per day
• 150 watt solar panel produces on average 19.125 kwh per month
• 150 watt solar panel produces on average 229.5   kwh per year
• 100 watt solar panel produces on average .425 kwh per day
• 100 watt solar panel produces on average 12.75 kwh per month
• 100 watt solar panel produces on average 153 kwh per year

All of these scenarios and examples of solar power per panel are based on a 5 average hours of sunlight per day per year equation.  If you live in an area which receives more than 5 hours of sunlight per day each year, the results for you will be higher.  Conversely, if you are living in an area where there is less than 5 hours of sunlight per day per year, you will have results that are smaller than the numbers used above.

Whenever you want to calculate the amount of electricity a solar system is going to produce, you need to do a tiny bit of homework.  There are several variables that need to be determined for anybody no matter how smart they are to tell you how much solar you will need to reach the desired amount of kilo watt hours or kwh.

The variables that are needed to determine the amount of solar panels are the following:

1. amount of average sunlight hours per day
2. percentage of shading that the area which will have the solar panels has
3. the angle that the solar panels will be facing or tilted
4. and to a lesser degree some information about the inverter and the energy efficiency loss it is rated for

Once you know that bit of information it will be pretty simple to calculate the amount of solar panels that will be needed as it then just turns into a simple algebra equation that can be figured out quite easily.

If anybody has further questions with regards to calculating how much solar power you need for your home’s situation, feel free to email me (adam@longtermsolar.com), and I will try to respond to you in as quickly as possible with some relevant data and solar information.

To provide an actual real life example to the 30 kwh per day of electricity production from solar, lets assume the location gets 5 hours of sunlight per day, with no shading, and a perfectly optimized angle of the panels towards the sun.  And lets also assume there is a 15% energy loss with the inverter converting the power from DC to AC.

This would mean that 30kwh/day needs to be produced over a 5 hour period each day on average.  That would mean that 6kwh would need to be produced in AC each hour.  If we backed in the 15 energy loss, that would mean that about 7kwh in DC would need to be produced from the panels per hour.  Which would mean a 7kw solar system would do the job, and that would equate to approximately 35 solar panels to produce the eventual 30kwh in Alternating Current.

Average Solar Panel Electricity Output:

In order to determine the output of a given solar panel, or solar panel system, any scientist or math wizard would need to know a few different variables.  To keep this equation relatively simple, we will assume that some very strange factors like energy loss is the industry average and nothing more or less than that.

Here are the variables we need to determine solar panel electricity output:

1. Solar panel wattage or panel size
2. Average sunlight hours in the solar panel’s location
3. Tilt or angle of the panel towards the sun (is the panel a fixed panel, or does it rotate throughout the day)

Example 1:

175 watt solar panel

5 average sunlight hours per day per year

175 watts DC * 5 hours = 875 watt hours per day per year in Direct Current

After expected energy loss = 743 watt hours in Alternating Current or AC

.743 kwh per day average solar panel kilo watt hour output

Example 2:

180 watt solar panel

6 average sunlight hours per day per year

180 watts DC * 6 hours = 1,080 watt hours per day per year in Direct Current

After expected energy loss = 918 watt hours in Alternating Current or AC

1.08 kwh per day average solar panel kilo watt hour output

Example 3:

200 watt solar panel

5.25  average sunlight hours per day per year

200 watts DC * 5.25 hours = 1,050 watt hours per day per year in Direct Current

After expected energy loss = 892 watt hours in Alternating Current or AC

.892 kwh per day average solar panel kilo watt hour output

Example 4:

170 watt solar panel

7 average sunlight hours per day per year

170 watts DC * 7 hours = 1,190 watt hours per day per year in Direct Current

After expected energy loss = 1.011 watt hours in Alternating Current or AC

1.011 kwh per day average solar panel kilo watt hour output

Example 5:

100 watt solar panel

5 average sunlight hours per day per year

100 watts DC * 5 hours = 500 watt hours per day per year in Direct Current

After expected energy loss = 425 watt hours in Alternating Current or AC

.425 kwh per day average solar panel kilo watt hour output

Solar For Apple I-Phone or I-Pods

How many people would like to be able to have electricity to power your I-phone or I-pod no matter where you are?  So many people enjoy going camping for example in the summer but are scared to be away from the real world for long amounts of time.  What often is the key reason people don’t even get away for very long anymore is because there is no power to power up the phones or ipods, and people are scared to use their car batteries because they fear they might drain the batteries.  This is all pretty much a lame excuse not to go and see the outdoors.  But there is a solution and it involves solar power.  Solar panels can take care of all of these issues for sure.

Powering Phones and Ipods with Solar Panels:

For people who want to have power for their electronic devices no matter what the deal is, there is a solar solution that works great and lasts forever and is relatively cheap.  It can actually power your phone or radio’s ipod for over 24 hours with just very little sunlight.  The way the solar panels work is they convert sunlight into a charge that can later on be used to charge a battery.  The idea is that simple.  There is no need for electric outlets when you have this type of solar panel system.  Some solar systems can charge an I-phone for more than 26 hours with just 1 hour of sunlight.  This is a great option for people who are camping or backpacking well away from power outlets or even car chargers.  Here is what a system like this looks like:

Solar For RV’s or Boats

Let’s face it, there is always a need for some extra electricity or “juice” when you are wanting to use your RV (Recreational Vehicle) or Boat.  These types of fun joys of life are the ones that seem to always be running down the batteries when you need them most.  Even though it is also fun to be sitting around with your buddies and thinking up creative ways to jump start the boat, or the car or RV, its also nice to be able to rely on something that is always going to be there for you like solar energy.  Solar panels have come a long way over the years, and one of the best uses for solar power is to charge up car batteries or boat batteries so the need for an electrical outlet is just not needed anymore.   Since you are not needing to power up a house, the actual size of a great solar panel and charger kit for recreational use is quite small and very inexpensive.  There are kits that can cost over $500 and even way more, but those are for more of a commercial use and way overkill for the common person’s needs.

What Do You Need for a Solar Panel and Battery Charger Kit?

Here are the items that will be needed to have a Solar Panel Recreational Use System:

1. A low wattage solar panel, either a 30 watt or 40 watt panel is ideal
2. 1 blocking diode cable
3. a charging cable

That is really all that you need.

How To Setup A Solar Panel to Charge  A Battery:

The steps you take to create the entire system is also very simple.  First, you will need to order a kit which includes everything listed above, or you can try to buy everything separately.  Here is what I would recommend for the best price and quality:

Solar Panel with Charger Cable Kits From Amazon

Next, once you have received all of that, you will need to mount the solar panel ontop of a surface that receives direct sunlight without any shading.  Connect the diode cable to the charger cable.  Last, connect the charger cable to your battery and you should be all set.  It is really that simple, and you can now rely on sunlight to charge your batteries.

Here is a complete Solar Panel Battery Charger System for an RV or Boat:

Solar Hot Water Heaters:

During the middle of winter, it often can take several minutes for normal water heaters to pump out hot water through the pipes when you are at the sink or taking a shower.  That just isn’t the case for solar hot water heaters.  It is the main reason why people are putting them on their roofs more and more.  The solar panels from the hot water heaters are all that is needed to have a readily accessible hot water source for your home.  And with hot water systems available at such low prices, the solar panels really do make sense.

How Many Solar Panels Are Needed For a Typical House?

On average, a normal size family home will use just one row of solar panels for their solar hot water system.  The reason that these types of solar systems are so much smaller when compared to solar electric panels is due to the much higher efficiency ratings.  Also, the actual work that needs to be done is much easier for the sun when it comes to just heating up water.  The ability to seal in the hot water once its heated into a pressurized tank, also allows for the efficiency to be much better than compared to anything else.  Here is a great cheap solar hot water system that does the job and is available on Amazon.com:

How about doing something good for your house this year?

Isn’t it about time we all looked for some quick & easy and CHEAP ideas to make our house and the world a better place?  I sure think it is.  And that’s exactly what we are doing.  Last weekend we installed finally on the area surrounding the backyard, some solar powered lights that so far are working great. These things are great and they were dirt cheap off of Amazon:

The Next thing we are thinking about doing is putting in a few more in the front yard to help light up the walkway.  It was funny because just a few weeks ago, we noticed our neighbors down the street installed some solar garden lights too, but theirs don’t seem to work as well as the solar garden lights we are using.  I don’t think it is because they have too much shade during the day either, so I am not sure what type they bought.

Solar Camping Gear:

Take a look at this camping lantern. Wouldn’t this be great to have while you are out with the kids on a camping trip, especially so you don’t have to worry about buying those expensive batteries anymore. They say they can provide plenty of light from solar energy all through the night, and once its daylight again, the solar panels start collecting electricity so you have power for the following day. I think it sounds great.

Average Kilo Watt Hour Production Examples for Solar Panel Systems:

• Example 1:  10 Solar Panel System
  • 5 hours of sunlight per day on average
  • 200 watt solar panels
  • No shading from trees
  • mounted flat and in an ideal south-southwest direction
    • This type of solar system would be able to produce 1 kwh per hour of sunlight or 5 kwh per day.
    • After the energy loss is factored into the equation, the total energy production in KWH would be about: 4KWH per day

• Example 2: 20 Panel Solar System
  • 5 hours of average sunlight per day all year long
  • No shading from trees or other buildings
  • each solar panel is also 200 watts per panel
  • solar angle towards the sun is set in an ideal path (south or south-west)
    • This size solar panel system could produce 2kwh per hour of sunlight
    • So, this would make about 8 kwh for a 20 panel system after the energy loss

As you can see from the above examples, the factors that we need to take into account are the size of the panels in terms of their watts.  If a solar panel has just 100 watts, it will make half as much electricity per hour compared to a 200 watt panel.  Another very important variable that we need to recognize is the amount of shading that may exist on the solar system.  If there is heavy amounts of daylight that go blocked from the shade of trees for example, it will have a horrible effect on the production of kilo watt hours, and it will end up costing you potentially thousands of dollars over the years.

Most importantly, you should realize that an average amount of kwh electricity production from solar is simply an average and is usually based on a full calendar year.  In the winter time, the systems will probably be producing less than the average due to smaller amounts of sunlight.  In the summer time, that will flip upside down and you will see much higher production days.

North Facing Solar Panels:

If you are preparing to place solar panels on your roof, the direction that the panels are facing is going to be very important with regards to the optimum energy production.  For people who live in the United States or Canada, it is best to face the solar panels in a South or South-Western direction.  This will ensure maximum electricity is being made each day from the sun.

It is still possible to have great benefits if the solar panels are not able to face south.  If you have to face the solar panels to the north, you should realize that there is going to be energy loss due to indirect sunlight hitting the surface of the photovoltaic modules (panels).  What you can do to counteract this, is to place what is called a solar backup underneath the panels themselves.  This will elevate the edge of the panel that is farthest away from the home so it now will be actually facing south.

North Facing Solar Panels in The Summer:

During the summer months in the United States and Canada, a north facing solar panel is going to attract much more sunlight and is also going to produce more energy.  This is the case will all solar systems during the summer months and the obvious reason is that there is more sunlight hours during that time of year.  What might be beneficial to investigate is flattening out the angle of the panels so they are more parallel to the ground during the summer months.  Be sure to have identical angles of each panel, because you do not want some panels to be different angles towards the sun as it will lower the efficiency of the overall system.