We use various kinds of solar-powered products every day, and we benefit from them a lot. But how much electricity does a solar panel generate?
The key point is to select a model with a suitable solar panel. And power output of a solar panel is one of the most significant matters you need to consider when choosing or comparing solar panels.
You may get confused when seeing the given numbers of 250 watts, 300-watt, and so on. Generally, they are referring to the wattage, power output, and capacity of a solar panel.
Key points about solar panel output
- Standardized residential solar panels on the market are quoted to generate averagely between 250 and 400 watts an hour.
- Typical domestic solar panel systems are rated to produce power ranging from 1 KW to 4 KW.
- The actual output of a solar panel depends on many factors, such as its size, capacity, location, orientations, and weather conditions.
- You can compare different output quotes of a solar panel and see how solar panels with different capacities will influence your particular solar system. You can search on the EnergySage to find more specific information.
How to calculate solar panel output for your home?
Each of you has a particular solar system, and every solar panel is unique. So it is difficult to put it how much electricity your solar panel system will produce. But you can have an approximate idea by searching the Solar Calculator Center of the Alternative Technology.
There is some common criterion for you to use when measuring the rough power output of your solar panel system.
Solar panel output per day
It is usually measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). To estimate the potential electricity that your solar panels would generate per day, you can use the following formula:
- Size of one solar panel (in square meters) x 1,000
- That figure x Efficiency of one solar panel (percentage as a decimal)
- That figure x Number of sun hours in your area each day
- That figure was divide by 1,000
Plus, you can use this calculator to figure out the sun hours in your areas. And the efficiency of the solar panel is given by the product maker. But you should pay attention to that the sun hours per day could be largely variable in different seasons and locations.
Solar panel output per month
Based on the above-mentioned formula, you can easily get the daily data. So to get the monthly power output, you simply calculate the daily figure then multiply it by 30:
- Daily figure x 30
Solar panel output per square meter
The most common domestic solar panel system is 4 kW. And it has 16 panels, each of which is about 1.6 square meters (m2) in size. They are rated to generate approximately 265 watts (W) of power (in ideal conditions).
To calculate the output per square meter, you can use the following formula:
- Number of panels x Capacity of the solar panel system
- Capacity รท Total size of a system (number of panels x size of one panel)
Also, you have about two different ways to calculate the power production that you might get from your solar panels at home. They are mainly related to how much power you need and how many square meters of roof space they will account for.
You have two options: easy and rough way; accurate and complex way.
Easy way
The easy way is to use solar panel calculators. And some online solar panel calculators are free of charge. They are previously programmed by all the required information and can work out data automatically.
You can just enter your zip code, power bill, and utility provider, then the calculator will automatically work out all the data you need. Moreover, it can also estimate the cost of solar, based on solar company pricing in your district.
Complex way
The complex way is more effort-consuming and accurate, comparing to the easy way. What you need to do is seek the meteorological data of your area, estimate the direction, and slope of your roof.
Besides, to know exactly how much solar power you need, you have to check your power usage patterns and the usable net metering scheme from your utility.
How much energy does a solar panel produce?
As you have known, the solar production of a solar panel can be affected by many factors, including location, shading, sun hours, and weather conditions. So we need to put it in an ideal situation.
For instance, if your solar panel system can get 6-hour of direct sunlight each day in a sunny area like California, you can calculate your solar panel output using this formula:
6 hours x 300 watts (an example wattage of a premium solar panel) = 1,800 watts-hours, or roughly 1.8 kilowatt-hours (KW-h). Therefore, the total output for each solar panel in your array will generate about 600-650 kWh of energy a year.
A solar panel is rated by the amount of direct current (DC) power it generates under standard test conditions. We usually express solar panel output in units of watts (W)