Solar Panel Installation Calculations

Many people are now opting to have solar panels installed on their property. Solar panels are part of several types of renewable technologies, which are technologies that use inexhaustible powers, such as wind, water and the sun, to provide us with heating and electricity. There are two general types of solar panels, being solar thermal panels (these panels will provide you with heating and hot water) and solar photovoltaic panels (these panels will provide you with electricity).

Solar Panel Installation Calculations – System Design

Before opting to install solar panels, you will have made sure that you have taken measures to reduce your energy use, for example by making sure your house is properly insulated to retain heat and that you use energy efficient light bulbs. Once you have done this, you could start doing solar panel installation calculations to design your system. There are several different things that you need to look at when doing solar panel installation calculations:

Loads calculation – this looks at how much energy you require every day.
Array size calculation – these are the solar panel installation calculations that will look at how many watts peak you will require for your property. This is calculated by using the load calculation as well as information you provide around when and in what seasons you will use your solar panels.
Battery calculation – firstly, you will need to decide on the voltage of the system you require. 12 Volts is the most standard size, 24 Volts is applicable for lager systems and 48 Volts is only applicable for commercial properties. Next, you will need to perform solar panel installation calculations that tell you what size battery you require and you will need the array size information you calculated previously.
Cable calculator – this is the last of the solar panel installation calculations and will tell you how much cable you need to be able to power everything that you need to power with your solar panels.

Solar Panel Installation Calculations – Payback Period

The payback period (this is the amount of time it will take you to earn back your initial investment through a reduction in fuel bills) for solar panels is around 12 years, which is quicker than insulation or double glazing for example. For solar photovoltaic, there is an additional incentive called the Feed in Tariff, meaning you will get paid for the surplus energy you produce.

In general the solar panel installation calculations for the Feed in Tariff are as follows:

£770 from the generation tariff – this is set at 43.3 pence per kilowatt that you export back to the grid.
£30 from the export tariff, assuming you export 50% of the electricity that you generate
£120 savings in energy bills.

If you are looking at installing solar photovoltaic technologies in the hope of earning a profit, then you may want to perform solar panel installation calculations to work out how many panels you would need in order to become profitable. However, for domestic properties the limit is four kilowatts.