How Much Solar Do I Need?
The solar industry has often struggled to clearly explain the Return on Investment (ROI) for homeowners considering PV solar systems. This lack of clarity can be a significant hurdle when making a financially sound decision. In this blog, we will break down the ROI of a solar system to make it more understandable, equipping you to make the right investment for your home.
Firstly before getting into the topic further, it is vital to understand solar as a big piece of a larger puzzle. Energy efficiency is the goal, and with an energy efficient home comes massive cost savings, and sustainable living. To view PV Solar as an end-all-be-all solution is not the most effective way to have a good ROI with this investment. To further explain, high electric bills come from high consumption of Kilowatts in the home. When viewing large monthly bills the question to ask is “HOW did we get here?” The answer may be different for different homes/families; some may do several loads of laundry a week, Some may like the house at 70 degrees, or have the pool heater running daily, and some may even just like to use the stove and oven everyday. A smart recommendation would be to use a Home Energy Monitoring System before PV Solar even comes into discussion. This allows you to have a complete understanding of your overall home usage, and gives you control over it allowing you to make proper changes to your energy consumption trends. The benefit to doing this is that when you do invest into PV Solar you will need less panels, reducing the overall investment.
Determine your Solar Needs:
The first step is to calculate your yearly consumption. You’d do this by signing into your account with your Utility company. If you have LCEC or FPL you can use the respective links for assistance. Once acquired you can now estimate your yearly ROI.
In this example, we’ll assume the home is consuming 25,000kW a year, and we will be using a standard Tier 1 sized system: 25x 400 watt panels equating to a 10kW system (25qty x 400w).
Secondly, now that we know our yearly consumption is 25,000kW (for example purposes) and the size system we are considering investing in; 10 kW (25 panels @ 400w each), we can now calculate the estimated production of the solar system.
Using a resource called https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/ we are able to see how much electricity this 10kW system would produce. PV Watts bases it’s estimates on 5.5 hrs of sunlight, Using the past 30 years of weather patterns and calculates based on geographic location of home, direction of panels (Azimuth), size of system, potential energy losses, and pitch of the roof.
To begin, type in your address and search. You can zoom in and verify the location selected is correct.
Secondly, it will ask for some information:
For DC System Size that would be the quantity of panels (25) multiplied by the wattage of those panels: 25 x 400 = 10,000watts or 10 kW (Website asks for size in Kilowatts)
Module Type depends on the type of panel used. For this example we will be using Q.Cell Panels which are Premium.
Array type would be Fixed (Roof Mount)
Generally it’s safe in Florida to keep system losses at 8%.
Tilt depends strictly on your roof’s pitch. In this example the pitch will be the common 5/12 pitch or 22 degrees.
Azimuth is the direction the panels are facing. For North it would be 0 degrees, East it would be 90 degrees, South would be 180 degrees, and West would be 270 degrees. In this example we are placing panels on the South facing roof.
Extra Tip: If panels are on two roof faces you will need to calculate two separate estimates and add them together.
Based on our example we estimate that system would produce 17,228 kW. Assuming the utility charge is 13 cents per kW, multiply 17,228kW by 0.13 to get $2,239.64 in annual savings. Additionally, the 30% Federal Tax Credit available for PV solar investments further enhances savings.
By following these steps, you can make an informed decision about investing in PV solar for your home, ensuring both financial and environmental benefits. We strongly recommend speaking to a professional solar installer to help you make this decision so you can confidently make the right decision for your family and home.
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