Many individuals are choosing a way of life that reduces their carbon footprint and saves money simultaneously in today’s climate-conscious society and with the rising affordability of solar energy. If you live in a remote area, wish to be energy independent, reduce your monthly utility costs, and lead a sustainable lifestyle, going off-grid is a terrific method to satisfy your energy needs.
Off-grid solar systems used to be extremely expensive because of the high cost of batteries and inverters. Still, as those costs continue to decline and efficiency continues to grow, off-grid solar systems are becoming more affordable for more people.
What Does it Mean to Run a House Off-Grid?
Going off-grid usually means you won’t depend on private or public entities to get your electricity. This means it will be cut off from the main power grid if you install a solar off-grid system at your residence, giving you access to a complete source of energy production. This will reduce unnecessary expenses and protect you from electrical threats.
Going off-grid is not meant for everyone; it may be a good solution if things don’t apply to you. It is only right for you if:
- You live a mobile lifestyle in an RV or a van
- You live in a cabin, tiny home, or in an isolated area with no reliable access to electricity
- You want to stop paying utility money
- You want to have a green and energy independent
The amount of solar panels you need depends on many things, including the direction of your roof, how much shade it receives, the solar inverter you opt for, and whether or not you’re integrating a solar battery. Therefore, one of the most important things to ask yourself as you plan to install solar panels in your off-grid house is, “How many will I need?”. However, measuring these characteristics on your own is challenging, but let’s dive in.
How Many Solar Panels Would You Need To Live Off-Grid?
For most homes to be off grid they will need around 7kW, but these smaller homes may need less. Solar panels have different power rating as 250W – 400W. As one kilowatt (Kw) have 1000 watts, you’ll need about 18 to 28 panels on an average 7KW houses based on the solar panel type and the wattage of the same.
While location, sunlight, house size, and energy consumption may influence how large and what kind your system is. Make sure you have enough panels to meet your needs in times of high demand as this usage will change with the season.
- If you have a three to four-bedroom house, you should have four 330W solar panels to go off-grid
- Averagely, you will need a minimum of 7KW of energy daily, so you should use 220 watts of solar panels.
- You will need about 35 panels to have an off-grid solar system in your home.
- You can also opt for 350 watts solar panels, which can estimate up to 20 panels.
Notably, apart from how many solar panels you need, you should avoid missing out on the power rating levels. Try to get a watt meter plug to assess accurate ratings of your power reading but also researching the solar panel wattage online can help you know about the solar panel.
How to Calculate the Solar Panels you Need
There is a solar panel system cost and savings calculator which makes your life fast, easy, and accurate to figure out how many solar panels your home will need without doing the math.
However, if you want to make calculations yourself, you should follow the steps below to figure out how many solar panels you will need. The formula to calculate how many solar panels you need is as follows:
The formula is: (Monthly Electricity Usage/ Monthly Peak Sun Hours) x 1000 / Power Rating of Solar Panel
1. Determine your Energy Usage
To determine how much electricity you use each month, look at your most recent power bill. The entire quantity of electricity used will often be displayed at the bottom of the bill in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Given that energy use varies seasonally (consider how much electricity you need for air conditioning in the summer), your yearly energy usage will help determine how many solar panels you need.
Due to the wide variability in monthly energy usage, it may be helpful to find your last year’s monthly utility bills, add up your total annual electric usage, and divide by 12.
However, a single utility bill to calculate your energy consumption is sufficient to get a rough estimate.
2. Find How Much Energy Solar Panels Give in your Area
Finding the amount of sunshine your area receives is necessary now that you know how much electricity your home consumes each month. The amount of sunlight in your area is ultimately measured in terms of “peak sun hours,” which is how this is typically expressed.
This is the daily amount of sunshine your area receives, but we need to know how much you get each month. Multiply your state’s daily peak sunlight hours by 30 to get this. On average, the U.S. gets between 120 and 150 peak solar hours each month.
You may calculate how many kilowatt-hours of power one kilowatt (kW) of solar panels will generate in your area throughout a month using the monthly peak sun hours. Therefore, 1 kW of off-grid solar energy will generate 150 kWh of power each month if your state experiences 150 peak sunlight hours.
3. Calculate the Off-Grid Solar System Size you Need
Given that you know how much electricity 1 kW of solar would generate in your area, you may calculate the amount of off-grid solar system you need to meet your electricity requirements.
To get the system size you require in kW, divide your monthly electricity consumption by your area’s peak solar hours.
4. Calculate the Solar Panels you Need
Therefore, you know the size of the off-grid system required to meet your energy needs. So what should I do next? First, to convert the size of the solar system from kilowatts to watts, multiply it by 1,000 to get the number of panels you’ll need.
Take the system size in watts and divide it by the wattage of the solar panels you should install.
Factors to Determine How Many Solar Panels You Need
The number of solar panels you need isn’t based on the size of your house, despite what you might believe. The following needs to be determined to accurately determine the number of solar panels your solar energy system requires:
1. Your Energy Usage
The more your electricity usage is, the more solar panels you will need to cover your electricity costs.
2. Panel Wattage
It comes down to the wattage, or power rating, of the solar energy panels; the number of solar energy panels will generate on their wattage. The majority of solar panels that are set up have a power rating of approximately 370 watts per panel. So high wattage solar panels require fewer solar panels in total.
3. Sunlight in your Area
Homes that do not receive as much light need more solar panels than states that get more natural light. For instance, southwest of United States gets more radiation than the northeast.
4. Peak Sunlight Hours
You’ve got to consider the direct sunlight your solar panels might receive. Strongest sun occurs in the peak sunshine hours when it can easily power your solar panels.
Peak sunshine hours refer to when the sun can yield an average 1000 watts per square meter. This is assuming your equipment size, since smaller solar panels are typically less efficient.
The amount of direct sunshine your solar panels get is also a factor in determining how many solar panels you will need. That being said it’s important to know what the peak sunlight hours are for your region.
If you’re in an area that plenty of sunshine, you wouldn’t need as many solar panels, because your panels would be receiving a lot of electricity. But if you live in a region with fewer peak sun hours, you’ll need to top up your home solar power system with more solar panels.
5. Roof Space
Remember too the amount of roof space available might limit the number of solar panels you can fit onto your roof. This is important if you are looking for portable solar panels for an electric vehicle or portable solar panels for camping.
Your roof shape will be angled too, as well as roof space. Because you will likely be installing many solar panels, they can be extremely heavy; therefore, roof stability is the other key aspect.
If you’re the owner of a house that needs solar panels, we advise contacting a professional to inspect your roof and see if it’s in good enough condition to do so, negating any future problems.
6. Battery Bank Capacity
Unlike a grid tied system, where you can tie directly to your utility’s electricity grid when solar energy is not available, off grid solar systems do not allow this. This puts you in a difficult situation if you are not ready.
In order to avoid this situation, you will need to have a battery bank that can supply enough energy to get your house through the day and night.
This guide will help you understand how much it would cost to run a house on solar and provide an estimate of just how much solar panels will cost.
How Much Will it Cost to Have Solar Panels Run a House Off-Grid?
In this instance, the price of the installations of solar panels will depend on the demand of the electricity. For these reasons, the cost of installation of solar panels on solar panels is usually comparatively low on smaller residences compared to larger ones. As such, mini-home, RV or van dwellers with aspirations to live off the grid wouldn’t be spending anywhere near as much as the ones in bigger dwellings.
The best way to find where your home solar system should be located and how much solar panels will cost you is to get quotes from local solar installers who are qualified. Solar installers may point out how much the upfront home solar panel installation costs are and what rebates, incentives, and tax credits residents are eligible for.
Conclusion on How Many Solar Panels to Run a House Off-Grid
To know how many panels it would take to run a house off grid you’ll need to calculate your power usage. This is important so that you can get the right number of battery banks and solar panels to run all your appliances as they are today and in the future.
Featured Image Credit: optoutliving.com
