How Many Solar Panels Do I Need for 1000 kWh Per Month?

When going solar, one of the essential things is determining the number of solar panels required for your home. Generally, countless homeowners ask the question, “How many solar panels do I need for 1000 kWh per month”? To answer this question, you need to consider your energy consumption monthly, the peak sun hours in your location monthly, and your solar panels’ power rating first.

The number of required solar panels for your home precisely equates to each panel’s output of power and solar irradiance. A 1000 kWh solar system at home will commonly require between 20 and 30 solar panels.

Let’s dig up more about this topic below!

How Many Solar Panels to Produce 1000 KWh Per Month?

A home with many family members generally reaches 1000 kWh for its monthly power usage. Typically, in regions where electricity is pricey, the cost of the electricity bill you’ll need to pay can reach more than $200.

As previously mentioned, the number of solar panels required for a 1000 kWh per month solar system usually alters hinging on sun peak hours and solar panel rating.

Please be guided that solar radiation is indicated by the peak sun hours in a day.

Determining the required 1000 kWh solar panel for your home can be easier if you know your region’s peak sun hours. That is, you measure the total sun exposure in your region, and you convert this to the corresponding hours of peak-sun-hours.

Take in mind that since sunshine is average in early mornings and late afternoons, these periods aren’t counted as full peak sunshine. This explains why some regions acquire 12 hours of average daylight, yet they get merely a total of 6 peak sunshine a day.

To start your calculations, compute for the kilowatts required first.

For example, for 30 days, the power production of 1,000 kilowatt-hours equals 33.33 kilowatt-hours a day. If the location where you live acquires a total of 6 peak sunshine, then you’ll require 5.56 kWh.

In general, there’s no such thing as a perfect energy conversion system, so to make up for this, you can extend the computed watts by 20 percent. And, for the last step, divide the total watts by the watts of each solar panel.

FYI: Solar shingles come in smaller sizes compared to solar panels. Hence, you can expect that their wattage is also lower.

Nonetheless, you can still utilize the same method to calculate the number of shingles required. For instance, if you require 5,000-watts of power and each shingle comes with a 50-watts rating, then you’ll require 100 solar shingles.

Factors Affecting the Number of Solar Panels Required

The size of your home and your energy consumption habits

Bigger households will, of course, require more solar panels to meet their energy usage. But, the efficiency of your appliances at home and your energy consumption habits are also significant factors to consider. Two households of the same size can have different power requirements; one may have fewer family members, while the other has more.

Sun exposure in your region

The amount of power a solar panel generates usually depends on the amount of sunshine absorbed. For example, if two houses situated in different regions require the same amount of power, the house with the sunniest weather will require fewer solar panels.

Solar panel rating or specification

Solar panel ratings commonly differ, depending on the manufacturer or model of the unit. Nevertheless, most of them range from 250W to 330W. As a general rule of thumb, if the solar panels’ wattage is higher, you’ll merely require fewer of them.

Furthermore, if you have a limited roof space at home, solar panels designed with higher efficiency ratings can help make your solar system more compact.

Dealing With Limited Roof Space

Solar experts and manufacturers strongly recommend setting up the most energy-efficient solar panels for homes with not-so-spacious roof space. Highly-efficient panels are purposely for maximizing the wattages installed per square foot. Due to this, they can make up for the limited space.

Now, the question is, “how can you determine if the solar panel is efficient?” The computation for this is pretty straightforward: The individual wattage of the panel/ the area.

The panel that possesses the highest efficiency is the one that has higher wattages per square foot.

Can a 1000 KWh Solar Power System Help Me Save More in the Future?

You can determine the amount you can save with a 1000 kWh solar system by choosing the energy bill you pay in your region. Let’s say if you set up a solar power system that outweighs 100 percent of your energy usage, then you can set aside the amount you’d spent on electricity monthly.

For instance, you reside in the US and spend approximately $0.150 per kilowatt-hour, on average. Based on this example, we safely can say that you can set aside about $150 with a 1000 kWh solar system setup monthly.

So, presuming that you spent more or less $13,000 on your solar panels, then you’re more likely to get your solar ROI within six or nine years. From this period on, you’ll be setting aside about $150 for the next 25 years since solar panels can last until this period.

Final Thoughts

As you read in this post, a 1000 kWh solar panel system is a worthwhile investment. Using solar energy can provide homeowners with plenty of benefits as they’re cost-effective, safe, eco-friendly options. But, before deciding to go solar, it’s essential to know more about the solar panels needed to get started.

So, how many solar panels do I need for 1000 kWh per month? To answer this, you first need to determine the following factors below:

Hopefully, this post can help you make the computations less stressful for your solar panel requirements.

Fussell Jesusr

As the founder of the Avasolar team, I aspire to solve the problems for households in selecting, installing, and utilizing solar mechanical devices.