20
November
2009
Im just curious as to if this is even possible. How much total power is used on average by the US? How much would it cost to make this many solar panels or other systems to make electricity from the sun? Im trying to figure out an estimate of how much it would cost to get all the electricity used in the us from solar power.
15Watt 38in x 13in = 494sqIn Scale this up by a factor of 1 million
15Mega Watt = 494,000,000 sqin
494 000 000 square inch = 78.75 acre
Sofar 15Mega Watts from 1,000,000 panels needs 78.75 acres lets scale this up to equal SqMiles (640 acres = 1 sqMile) Note the area doesn’t consider additional room between the panels. You will need additional space so you can walk between them so as to be able to service them etc.
15 * (640/78.75)= 121.9 MegaWatts / SqMile
1000000 * (640/78.75) = 8126985 * $100each = $812,698,400
So far that is over $812 Billion and you have enough wattage to replace one nuclear power plant.
Your going to need more land than 1 sq mil, you will need additional hard ware to mount the panels.
So you can easily quadruple the cost and area requirements to $3.248 trillion(not counting the purchase of the land) on 4 square miles with 32,507,940 (32.5 million) solar panels
Why quadruple the cost? Remember that the panels are only exposed to 1/2 day worth of light so you need at least twice the capacity to store half of what you generate in batteries for night time use. And this is being generous in assuming that you get 100% efficiency and no cloudy days. The additional cost of batteries, wire , solar trackers etc are only partially covered in this estimate. Then you will have maintenance costs to keep the panels operating at peak performance and replace damage. (imagine what a hail storm would do)
And all of this to replace a single 120 mega watt power plant.
Posted: solar power
16
November
2009
I was thinking on buying some solar panels but I wanted some real life first hand knowledge.
It really depends on your usage habits, and the size of the system installed. For instance, if I got a modest-sized solar array, then said, "Woo-hoo, now I can run the A/C all summer and electric heaters all winter!" then I might never turn the meter back.
Now for the data points. In August 2008, we had a net consumption of -214 kWh for our house (that is, the meter was turned back 214 kWh). That’s the summer, of course. In January 2008, the dead of winter, we used a net 331 kWh. Other months are between these two extremes. Over the course of a year, it balances out to about zero kWh used. But again, if we changed the size of the system only slightly, or altered our usage patterns only slightly (say, it was a very cold winter), the answers would be different.
If you want to see our bill in detail, send me an email.
Posted: solar panels
13
November
2009
I’m trying to figure out how to calculate how much money I will save each month, to figure out if it is a good idea to get a solar panel now or wait until until next year.
Say I have a 150 watt panel, I get 5.5 hours of peak sunlight, and I pay 5.8 cents per KWH.
What is the equation to figure out how much that will be?
150 watt x 5.5 hours x 365days/year x 1kw/1000w = 301kWhr/year
301kWhr/year x $0.058 = $17.47/year
Hope that helps!
(5.8 cents per KWH is an awesome price! Where do you live?)
Posted: solar panel
10
November
2009
I am trying to work out how many solar panels I require to power my shed and am unsure how to work it out.
Firs you must know how many kWhr/day do you plan on using in the shed.
This info can be found on your power bill, or by multiplying each power device’s Watts x Hours of use per day, then dividing by 1000 to get kWhr. The sum of all the devices kWhr/day is your useage.
(ex. 800W device x 2hr/day /1000 = 1.6kWhr/day + 900W device x 6hr/day /1000 = 5.4kWhr/day = 7kWhr/day)
Take your usage and divide by 5 sun hrs /day. This the annual average in the mid latitude united states. Latitude: 43.6
(ex 7kWhr/day / 5hr/day = 1.4kW)
The number you get is the solar panel array size that is required to meet you demand.
Since the calculation is base on an average, this array size will work when grid tied. However, if you are off grid you will require batteries and twice as many panels. (ex 1.4kW x 2 = 2.8kW)
Hope that helps!
For more information:
http://www.aurorapower.net/alternative-energy/solar-electric.aspx
Posted: solar power
4
November
2009
I want to connect my inverter to solar power system. can somebody tell me?
There are 2 distinct situations, each one is using a different type of inverter
1. For homes connected to the grid the inverter is connected to the solar panel on the DC side and the DC voltage and DC current rating should match. The inverter AC side is connected to the home and to the grid (power lines entering the home). The inverter synchronizes to the grid frequency (60 Hz in the USA). In essence the home is fed from a combination of the inverter power and grid power. View this link http://www.solar-energy-for-home.com/grid-tie-inverter.html
2. For off grid homes (not connected to power lines) the solar panel is connected through a charge controller to a bank of storage batteries. The batteries are connected to the DC side of the "pure sine inverter". The DC voltage rating and current rating of the battery and the inverter should match. The inverter has a self synchronization to AC correct frequency (60 Hz in the USA). View the link http://www.solar-energy-for-home.com/pure-sine-inverter.html
Posted: solar power
4
November
2009
Posted: home solar panels
2
November
2009
Hello
I intend to buy 200-200watt solar power to take to a remote part of Asia.l hope to use it for 3 months to power our Laptop, TV, Microwave, Mobile phones, printer, Lighting, Fan etc.
Does anyone know where I can buy?Thanks
Category
Just keep in mind that solar panels are rated for their maximum output and provide said wattage under ideal conditions. So I would verify with a qualified supplier before going ahead. Cell phones are easily recharged with a Solio charger, just google it. Otherwise check this page, http://www.squidoo.com/thinfilmsolarpanels it tells a little more about the subject as well as listing a bunch of different suppliers.
Posted: solar power home
2
November
2009
For my science project
I need a list of good things about solar power engery and a list of bad things.
Full best answer given out!
There are various ways to convert the energy of the sun but I will address only solar cells.
Good things:
–No CO2 emissions or other chemicals
–Renewable
–Once the installation is built, it is "free"
–It generates electricity which is a flexible form of energy but …
Bad things:
– The installation must be in a sunny place
– No energy at night
– Under the solar panels, nothing grows and the space cannot be used for something else.
– Difficult to store the energy in large quantities
(example you store In July, August and you use the energy in December)
Future developments and research:
– very efficient solar panels ( currently at beat 20%)
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell#Comparison_of_energy_conversion_efficiencies
– very efficient batteries
Posted: solar power
