Can solar panels power my household appliances?
Posted on 2009 under solar power residential | 8 Comments13 Aug
Can solar power panels installed at home provide enough electricity to power my household appliances and heat my water?
Indeed they can, but it will takes a lot of panels. A home averages about 1 kw power. Peak power is higher (3-6 kw) but you can handle that with load leveling storage batteries.
The total maximum solar flux is about 1 kw/square yard (or square meter). Solar panels are around 10% efficient. Because the Sun travels across the sky, the overall power is about half this maximum but then only during the day (only for half the time). Since you will have to recharge your batteries for night time, etc. and battery charging is about 50% you lose another factor of two.
So, assuming the Sun shines every day, you can power your house on 80 square yards (700 square feet of solar panels). This is still very rare because the investment in solar panels, batteries, converters, etc. would have to far outweigh what you are currently spending for commercial electricity.
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by Gowri, on August 14 2009 @ 12:25 am
Yes it can be, In this modern era, the photovoltaic cells, Solar panels are widely used for various applications. Like Pressure Cooker, Water Heater, Lighting purpose and all other basic things, More over Solar Powered cars under trails, Satellites in the orbits use the same technology for power.
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by Pretzels, on August 14 2009 @ 1:01 am
They can but it takes a lot of panels. A home averages about 1 kw power. Peak power is higher (3-6 kw) but you can handle that with load leveling storage batteries.
The total maximum solar flux is about 1 kw/square yard (or square meter). Solar panels are around 10% efficient. Because the Sun travels across the sky, the overall power is about 1/2 this maximum but then ony during the day (1/2 the time). Since you need to recharge your batteries for nighttime, etc. and battery charging is about 50% you lose abother factor of two.
So, assuming the Sun shines every day, you can power your house on 80 square yards (700 square feet of solar panels). This is still very rare because the investment in solar panels, batteries, converters, etc. far outweighs what you spend for commercial electricity.
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by Tlocity, on August 14 2009 @ 1:25 am
It will take about $44,000 to put enough solar panels to provide the same amount of power that you now have coming from a 220 v 100 amp power line to your house. You should also realize that you need some method of storage for use at night or dark days. This will add another $7,000 to the cost.
The only real solution for the energy problem is nuclear power.
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by QuantumPhysics238, on August 14 2009 @ 2:11 am
Yes, but people usually balk at the cost. Right now, the photoelectric materials are rather expensive. So, most people figure it is not worth spending thousands of dollars and will gladly pay hundreds of dollars a month to the electric company. Most estimates are that it takes at least a year and a half to two years to recover the cost of the panels by how much one can save on their electric bill. Most persons would rather pay out that money in little increments to the electric company instead of all at once when having their home built.
Just a side note of trivia: The ability of certain materials to turn photons of light into electric current or the photoelectric effect is what Einstein was awarded his Nobel Prize for, not Relativity.
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by kapilbansalagra, on August 14 2009 @ 2:32 am
ya
u gotta calculate your power load, and install panels and batteries accordingly. there can be no universal solution as sunlight availability differs from place to place.
Better consult a professional.
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by Andy, on August 15 2009 @ 11:45 am
This is an interesting way of calculating how many solar panels you need to run your appliances, starting with how much solar energy hits a square meter of ground.
Wouldn’t it be easier to look at what solar panels are available on the market and calculate from there? For example, if you want to generate 1,000 Watts of power, you’d need slightly more than that in panel capacity (to account for efficiency losses across the wiring). Let’s say 30% more. So you need 1,300 Watts of power. Solar panel prices are dropping. A friend just priced some at $2 per watt, wholesale (of course, they weren’t UL listed). Figure $5 a Watt, retail. That’s $6,500 of solar panels.
That doesn’t count installation costs, which includes racks to hold the panels and any wiring.
The payback time on this is going to be a lot more than just a year and a half, as one person commented.
Andy´s last blog ..What can the new Sanyo portable solar panel do?
by duncan, on November 1 2009 @ 10:48 am
Is it possable to buy a solar panel that you can put in your window and comes with everything you need to charge up a battery and so on and a socket to plug in a house hold appliance ?
by Michelle, on December 7 2009 @ 11:18 am
I want to go solar, but solar panels are so expensive. It’s not in my budget now, but I hope to have them installed soon.
Michelle´s last blog ..How Do Electrolux Refrigerators And Ranges Comare To Other Manucturers?