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V. How Many Solar Panels?Reducing Electricity UsageBefore figuring out how many solar panels you need, it's best to reduce your current electricity usage as much as possible. Doing this will make your solar panel system more cost effective. Making small and simple changes to your electricity usage can make a huge impact on both the environment and your electricity bill. On the more expensive end of the spectrum, you can make improvements such as replacing bad insulated windows with more modern ones, insulating walls and ceilings, replacing old central heating units, etc. This is more of a long term investment, and once they you get your payback, it's just extra money in your pocket. The next step would be making changes with your big appliances. They are a major part of your electricity consumption and you can make big gains by switching to more efficient models. Switching to Energy Star compliant appliances is a great way to go about it. There are a lot of small investments and also personal habits that you can do right now that take a big part in reducing your electricity usage. What a lot of this comes down to is habit. Just like many people have habits of wasting electricity whether they realize or not, those habits can easily be reversed by starting more energy saving habits. Lets take a look at a few things for starters: -Turn off lights in rooms not being used. You could take it a step further by purchasing compact florescent bulbs. They are a little more expensive but the payment is very quick. -Get in the habit of turning off your computer monitor. Instead of leaving your computer on, make sure you have it in sleep mode, or better yet, turn it off when not in use. -Close your blinds if parts of the house are getting direct sunlight. It heats the house up and will make your air condition kick on more. -Run your dishwasher and wash your clothes at night. A lot of utility companies have rating scales where they will charge you more during peak hours. Find out from your utility company when the lowest rates apply. -Insulate your water heater. For about $10-$20 you can buy a installation wrap that goes around your water heater so it doesn't work as hard to heat the water. -Get a shower curtain rod, set it up in your utility room and start air drying clothes. -Use warm and cold water to wash clothes rather then hot -Turn your refrigerator down. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible. Make sure that its energy saver switch is turned on. -Clean or replace air filters when needed. -Use low-flow shower heads so you use less hot water -Take showers instead of baths, they use half the amount of hot water.
Figuring Out How Many Solar Panels You NeedIf you plan on tying your solar panels into the grid, then one way going about it is just buying what you can afford. Then when you have enough money saved just add another one, and so on. That away what ever electricity you are producing your electricity company will just credit you. For example in my state, they just credit back what you produce on the next months bill. Doing it this way is fun and motivating to watch those bills start decreasing. If you plan on going big, then there are a few steps that you will have to follow to find out about how many solar panels you will be needing to compensate for all the energy used in your home. Once you have this part down, it will all start to come together and become easier to understand how this all works. If you have any problems or questions with the following steps, make sure to go to www.solarpaneltalk.com to post your question and it will be answered promptly by people knowledgeable of solar panels. 1. Make a list of all the electrical appliances that you use, how many watts each one uses and estimate how many hours per day you use them. You can find the amount of watts it uses by looking at the label on the back or bottom of the electrical product. You'll be looking for something that looks like (1450W) for example. Of course all the numbers will vary depending on how many watts that particular product uses. Some power adapters won't tell you how many watts it uses, instead is will tell you the amount of volts and amps. (for example +13v ... 1.3A) If this is the case, you will want to multiple the volts x amps to get your watts. Keep in mind all of these labels are slightly different, so if you are still having trouble on a particular appliance, check the manual or call the manufacture to get the amount of watts. The labels on the electrical items approximations, which is fine, but if you would like a more precise number, using a kill-a-watt electronic device works wonders! This device plugs into your electrical outlet, and then you plug the electrical item into the kill-a-watt meter and it gives you an exact reading of how many watts it uses. This meter is extremely handy and very inexpensive.
Part VI. How To Find Best Price-->
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