How Efficient Should My Solar Panels Be

However if you were limited with your budget or underestimated your future power needs when you installed your pv panels you could consider adding more panels to your existing system.

How efficient should my solar panels be.

It s a good idea to keep track of your energy output before and after a cleaning because that alone can be enough motivation to get your panels cleaned. Photovoltaics produce power when the angle at which the sun s rays hit the panel surface the angle of incidence is small or when light strikes the panel as close to perpendicular as possible. The steeper it is the more it is an issue. Typically a modern solar panel produces between 250 to 270 watts of peak power e g.

250wp dc in controlled conditions. Using a solar calculator helps estimate your solar system costs and power needs in order to accurately determine how many panels you should have in your system. That ratio improves to 82 for homes in los angeles california. There are plenty of solar calculators and the brand of solar system you choose probably offers one.

How much will your roof direction affect the output of your solar panels. In order to collect energy more efficiently solar panels should be angled to face as close to the sun as possible. Some manufacturers and solar panel users report a jump in efficiency of 30 percent or more after a cleaning. Recharge all your electronic devices such as mobiles laptops lamps and other gadgets in the sunlight for hours.

Different ways to do so include. If a solar panel has 20 percent efficiency that means it s capable of converting 20 percent of the sunshine hitting it into electricity. The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency. This depends on both the direction of your roof and the pitch of the roof.

Finally cleaning your solar cells extends their life. Though it is certainly possible to install a solar system and then add more panels later on to. If you want to get optimum results from your solar panel investment you should use as much power as you can under the sun. The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range.

The flatter the roof the less solar energy production falls when panels face east or west rather than south.