How Much Do Solar Panels Cost?
Friday, April 2nd, 2010There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to solar panel costs . There are two important things to take into consideration : the cost of an individual solar panel, and the cost of getting enough solar panels to power a house . Solar Panels are the part of the system that does the actual conversion of sunlight to current and are the most critical element in the systems ability to power your home. To learn more about the heart of any solar power system, visit Residential Solar Panels.
Building your own solar panels, though, is significantly more affordable, and much simpler than it may seem . If you decide to build your own solar panel, you can reduce the cost to as little as $200 . Can you build your own solar panel for less than 200 dollars ? If you want to know the answer, take a look at this guide Homemade Solar Panel. In this guide, you will get specific instructions on what is best to build based on the size of your house and your location. You will also get step-by-step diagrams on how to build your own solar power system .
The cost can be brought down even further by taking advantage of as many tax credits and incentives as you can . In some cases, people have reduced the cost of their solar power systems by up to half in this way . Check your local and state government websites for more info .
To understand how many solar panels you’ll need to power your home , you’ll need to know the amount of electricity that your household uses . The easiest way to do this is to refer to your previous monthly electricity bills and find out how many kilowatt hours (kWh) you use in a typical month . Then, multiply that kWh figure by 1000 to see the number of watt-hours you’re using in a typical month . Divide this figure by 30 to get your average daily electricity usage in watt-hours . Now, just divide this number by the average number of hours per day of sunlight that you get in your location . It’s usually best to use the number of hours of sun for the shortest day of the year in order to calculate this figure . This final figure shows the amount of electricity per hour that you’ll need your solar power system to produce .
The average cost for an installed system is around $7-9 per watt . Multiply the number from the previous step by $9. This will give you an estimate of the cost for enough solar panels to power your home .
I have a solar power calculator spreadsheet that can assist you with these calculations . Just enter the kWh figure from your electric bill, and the speadsheet will give you a total for the cost of solar panels to provide energy for your entire home . The calculator is included in my 6 part mini course on solar and wind power for the home .
Now, you have an idea as to how much it will cost to power your home entirely through solar power . Don’t be discouraged if it seems like a big investment . Tax credits, rebates and incentives can make a significant impact , though . If you’re able to build your own solar panels, you can lower the cost even more .
What is solar power generation? To know more about this topic, you can check out Solar Power Generation.