When we talk about photovoltaic energy for self-consumption All kinds of doubts arise regarding the power that solar panels can generate. Answering these questions is not an easy task as the answer will depend on various factors such as installed panel power waves the usable solar hours of the place where the installation takes place.
It is obvious that the answer to this question is important to determine the characteristics that a photovoltaic installation in a certain place. For this reason, at Powen we want to help you find out everything you need to know about the production capacity of solar panels so that you can make an informed decision based on your needs.
What factors influence the amount of kWh produced by a solar panel?
A photovoltaic panel consists of a set of interconnected photovoltaic cells whose function is to capture solar energy and convert it into electricity. For this reason, the energy produced by a panel will dependlargely due to various factors:
- From amount of radiation which affects it, i.e. of usable solar hours.
- From orientation, inclination and temperature to which you are exposed.
- From maximum power of the panel.
- Usable solar hours: As we explained, the number of hours in which the intensity of the sun is sufficient to generate energy efficiently.
- The age and condition of the dashboard
- From panel typebecause there are different types of solar panels and each has a different efficiency.
All these factors will condition the amount of energy generated and therefore the Kwh produced.
What are the usable solar hours?
As mentioned before, one of the factors that influence the amount of energy produced by a solar panel is usable solar hoursalso known as solar resource.
Since not all hours of the day are equal in terms of the amount of solar radiation received, we understand by solar resource the time when solar radiation is strong enough to generate solar energy efficiently.
In technical terms, a peak solar hour (HSP) u solar time under standard conditions (STC) is defined as an hour when the sunlight intensity is 1,000 watts per square meter. This is the standard measurement used in the solar industry to calculate the efficiency of solar panels.
It\’s important to note that the number of peak hours of sunlight a location receives in a day varies with latitude, season, cloud cover, and other factors.
What is the power of a solar panel?
The the power of a solar panel refers to the maximum amount of electricity that can be produced under ideal conditions. It is measured in watts (W) and is directly related to the size and efficiency of the panel. This is one of the most important specifications to consider when choosing a solar panel.
There are different powers depending on each type of photovoltaic panel. They normally range between 250W and 400W, although they can also have higher (500W) or lower (150W) powers, the latter being uncommon.
How to calculate kWh produced by a solar panel?
Suppose the solar panel whose output we want to measure has a 300W power. This means that for each hour of sunshine, the generated power is 300W.
Perhaps with this answer the doubt is not completely resolved because the calculation of the production of a solar panel aims, among other things, to know how many solar panels will be needed for a certain house. For this we will use a formula that allows us to connect the power of the solar panel with the rest of the factors that influence its power to produce energy.
Power x Daily usable solar hours = Power generated per day
In this way, we can calculate the number of kilowatt hours that a solar panel produces in a day, month or year.
Let\’s give an example. Suppose we have a solar panel with 300W of power installed in an area where the usable solar hours are 5. The calculation would be as follows:
300W x 5 hours of sunshine per day = 1500W or 1.5 kWh per day.
How many kWh do you produce in a year?
To calculate the output of a particular panel, we should just multiply the previous formula by 365 to find out the annual output.
1.5 kWh per day x 365 days per year = 547 kWh per year are produced by a 300W solar panel in an area with 5 usable solar hours.
With these data, and knowing the average annual consumption of the house, we can define the characteristics of the installation we will need. That is, the size of the installation and the number of solar panels we will need to install to meet the needs of our home.
Which power to choose?
There are different ones on the market today types of solar panels classified according to the power they provide on their basis kilowatt output (Kwh). But then, what power should we choose for our photovoltaic installation? Everything will vary depending on:
- The budget we have.
- Estimated energy consumption of our home.
- What part of the consumption do we want to cover with solar energy?
- The amount of space we have to perform the installation.
Usually the solar panels which have higher power offer a larger size but take up less overall space because fewer need to be installed. The price of these panels is higher, although as I mentioned, having to install a smaller quantity, the the total investment in the plant may be lower than that required to install a larger number of lower power boards.
Before buying a solar panel, the first thing to keep in mind are the needs of the place in which you want to create the installation in order to be able to define the characteristics it must respect. In addition, it will be essential to analyze panel powercoward hours of sunshine which receives the place where the solar panel is to be installed and incidence of the sun in the place where photovoltaic installation. Without considering these three factors, we will not be able to make a real calculation of the Kwh generated by a solar panel, and therefore we will not know what the characteristics of the most optimal photovoltaic installation for us will be.
