When you want to maximise the use of solar energy in your home, you should choose the correct solar system size, which can provide the most significant energy output. And to be able to do that, the following factors should be taken into consideration.
Electricity Usage
Knowing how much electricity your home uses is vital to help you choose the correct size of the solar system.
It is most helpful if you can note the daily electricity usage of your home. A smart meter can measure the electricity usage daily, and if you have this installed, then you can check the electricity consumption readings online. Or if there is no smart meter, you can check your past monthly electricity bills, and from there you can see your average consumption. You will see that the power consumption is measured and billed in kilowatt-hours(kWh).
It is also better if you can observe what time of the day or day of the week you usually consume the most electricity. This way, you can note and understand your daily power consumption, and you can adjust your activities if needed. When it comes to power produced by your solar panels, you can also gauge if it would be better to use the generated electricity during the day, store it in a battery or export it to the grid.
Electricity Output
The maximum capacity of a solar system is measured as the total electricity it can produce. This capacity will not depend on the number of solar panels but the total power generated by all panels.
Take, for example, you have 20 X 250W panels, or you have 25 x 200W panels. Either capacity will give you the same 5000W or 5kW system.
The solar system is also assessed in kilowatts (kW) or watts(W), and 1kW of the solar panel is equivalent to more or less 4kWh of electricity produced daily. So if you have a 5kW system, it will provide a total of 20kWh per day. But this output will also be affected by the panel’s age, location and orientation, amount of sunlight received and time of the year.
Choosing the Solar System Size
After knowing your average electricity usage, you can now choose the appropriate size for your solar system. If your average consumption is around 20kWh but can also reach up to 30kWH daily, you may or may not add panels to your already existing 5kW solar system.
If your option is not to include more panels, then you will need to rely on the power grid on the days that you will require more electricity on top of your solar system output.
You will also need to minimise your electricity usage at night because nighttime is when the electricity comes from the grid, which could cost much. So to save on the electricity bill, you will need to run your appliances during the day.
But if you choose to include more panels and upsize your system, you will be spending money on installation again, but on the positive side, a higher energy will be generated, and you will not need to use power from the grid. It will also be easier to add a battery to a bigger system, and you can maximise the use of your inverter.
If you need help choosing the right size of solar panels for your home, please feel free to contact our customer service hotline at 1300 620 290. We’d be glad to be of help!