If you could save money on your electrical bill, you’d do anything you’d have to make that happen. If you could also find a way to help contribute towards the sustainability of the planet, you’d probably do that too.

There’s a great way that you can do both.

Solar power is one of the best forms of renewable clean energy. To get the most out of them, you need to know how much you need to power your home.

That’s where the solar panel calculator comes in. The calculator determines how much energy your home uses. You can then use this information to figure out how many solar panels you need.

Here’s how it figures it out.

Factors for Determining the Number of Solar Panels

Contrary to popular belief, the size of a home doesn’t dictate the number of solar panels to power it. These three factors help inform your solar panels calculation.

• Energy usage – The more electricity you use, the more solar panels you’ll need to cover your energy usage.
• Sunlight in your area – How much sunlight you get will also determine how many solar panels you’ll need. The more sunlight you get in your area, the fewer solar panels you’ll need. The southwest gets the most sun in the country; the northeast gets the least.
• Panel wattage – Panel wattage tells you how much power solar panels produce. Higher power wattage means you need fewer solar panels.

Once you decide you want solar panels, contact a solar company for a consultation.

How to Use a Solar Panel Calculator

Solar panel calculators generally work the same, no matter which one you use. All you have to do is input some information, and it’ll do the calculating for you.

First, you need to figure out how much energy you use in a year. You can find this out by looking at your most recent power bill. It should list the electricity used in kilowatt-hours (kWh).

Since energy usage tends to fluctuate throughout the year, it may be a good idea to look at the last twelve bills.

Next, you need to find out how much sunlight your area receives. The method for measuring this is through peak sun hours, which measure the intensity of sunlight. Once you find the daily peak sun hours for your area, multiply that by thirty for the amount you receive each month.

Once you plug in this information, the calculator should tell you how many solar panels you’ll need. Some calculators even act as a solar panel cost calculator to tell you how much you’ll have to pay for the system and the number of solar panels.

Go Green With Solar

Investing in solar panels is a great way to save money and help the Earth. You can figure out what you need with a solar panel calculator to help you get started. Having this information will help a solar panel business get you your solar panels faster.

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