There are two main types of solar batteries in the market; Lead acid and lithium. Although adding such batteries to the solar system will add extra significant expenses on solar system price, but it has much benefits; It will reduce our electricity bill, and we will be independent of the grid keeping our equipment work in case of grid interruption, and this is critical high value benefit in places/areas prone to grid blackout or even has no connectivity with the grid, and specially for some kinds of sensitive equipment like fridges, freezers, and medical equipment.
The solar photovoltaic system power generation in sunny day is approx. 4-5 times the cloudy day, so we need to delay operating our big power capacity appliances, like dryer, washing machine, and dish washer in cloudy day to the next sunny day. In general, when solar generation is low then do Not run all your appliances at the same time, and delay those which can be delayed without harming your lifestyle to the next sunny day, in order to avoid purchasing electricity from your local grid and pay more for your electricity bill. So, please do your jobs in sequence rather than doing them simultaneously.
Also, for your Air conditioner, you can pre-heat or pre-cool your home at daylight time, so stored heat or cool on your home wall will provide a comfortable whether in the evening. This way can save you much money compared to the Air conditioner regular operating time from 5pm To 9pm when usually the household returned back to home.
One of the most external factors affecting solar photovoltaic performance rather than the 3 factors aforementioned, is how much solar irradiation exists in that country/location. There will be many calculators available on internet free of charge that provide us with accurate sun irradiation data for each place in the world. This calculator estimates the output power from the solar photovoltaic system based on optimal criteria, means best orientation, best pitch angel, no shadow, and standard good quality solar panels.
Do internet solar research, and speak to your friends who already installed the solar system. The goal of such searches is to discover good brands, prices in the market. Usually cheap prices correspond to lower quality, but keep in mind that your solar system should last for 25 years in order to get a good return on investment, so good quality is our first consideration.
Choose the high quality and the high efficiency solar Inverter, as the inverter is an essential and crucial part of the solar system, the motor efficient it is, the better energy conversion we get. We recommend to choose the best brand with long warranty period.
For each individual solar panel brand/manufacturer, there will be specific characteristics that will affect the whole solar photovoltaic system performance. To be more specific, we mean by the word "performance"; the output electrical power we can get from the solar system "the harvest".
Based on real testing procedures made be the solar specialists/experts, there will be approx. 10% difference in solar panel output power based on its own properties, which are represented by 3 major factors/specifications as following:
The sun releases very tiny energy packets called photons. These photons come from the sun to the earth in approx 8-9 minutes. In theory, the number/volume of photons incident on the earth per hour is enough to meet the world's energy needs for one year. Imagine how much energy we get from the sun!
Payback period refers to: In how many years our solar system will return back its fixed and running costs we should pay for. Basically, before proceeding in purchasing/installing any kind of solar system and due to their high initial costs, we need to make economical feasibility study to know how to calculate the payback period and whether this solar system will be profitable project or not.
Of course, using solar photovoltaic system will substantially reduce our electricity billsand may eliminate them totally, but we can also reduce electricity bills by reviewing our power consumption to reduce electricity usage and electrical losse. Let us introduce nine tips and approaches to achieve that:
1. Replace your bulbs whether they are incandescent or halogen to led lights, as this will achieve 75% energy consumption reduction.
2. Switch off appliances which are on standby mode and not actually used like old air conditioner which pulls large power in standby and like television & mobile charger, etc. All should be switched off when we do not use them.
The electricity consumption in homes differs based on home size, number of resides, home wall insulation, heating/cooling system presence/ capacities, number/ type of electrical appliances, and of course the life style. So, large homes with pools, and air conditioning units will exhibit high consumption with high electricity bill more than small homes, and always the home owners are looking forward to reduce the consumption/bills which is critical in large homes. In fact, there will be 2 main opportunities to reduce electricity consumptions and save your money.
When sizing the solar photovoltaic system, we should mind some logic important factors that have substantial effects on solar system itself and our electrical appliances/equipment:
1. If we don’t use the electricity generated from the solar photovoltaic system during the daylight hours instantaneously, it will be exported back to the power grid if we have grid tie solar photovoltaic system type.
Solar feed in tariff is how much will you be paid for the electricity generated from your solar photovoltaic system and send back to the power grid. Of course, the electric utility in your location which receives the power, will be on charge to pay you.
Actually solar feed in tariff value differs from one country to another, moreover, it differs from one state to another. In United States, every state has its own guidelines, and every retailer has a certain tariff. So, if you decide to install photovoltaic solar system in your facility, you will be needing to check different retailers in your location for the best price.
Correct choice of the solar company that will supply the solar system components is the base, success crucial factor and the first important task you should take care about. You need to find out more details about the solar company and solar components they provide before dealing with a certain. Here below, we shall summarize the clarifications you need to get, and better if it can be written signed/stamped clarifications from the best solar company:
Solar inverter is an important electronic device which converts dc electricity generated from solar panels photovoltaic system or dc batteries system to ac electricity that can be used to operate our household appliances, commercial/ industrial buildings...etc. The solar inverter mainly consists of step-up transformer, voltage regulator, mosfet driver and some other small electronics components.
This inverter efficiency value depends on inverter load power capacity variation, as the efficiency increases and may reach to its max value at higher load power capacity in compare to lower loading power capacity, and in condition that not going above inverter output power capacity limit. Generally, below 15% inverter loading, the efficiency will be quite low. Consequently, good matching between inverter capacity and its load capacity will enable us harvest larger efficiency, which means larger inverter ac output power for the same dc input power.
Solar energy, one of the most abundant natural resources on Earth, has garnered widespread attention. In just one hour, the solar energy Earth receives is sufficient to meet the world's energy needs for an entire year. However, due to current technological limitations, we are unable to fully harness this vast resource. In recent years, advancements in solar panels, inverters, and related technology have led to significant improvements in conversion efficiency, giving us reason to be optimistic about solar energy’s future performance. Below, we delve into the primary advantages and disadvantages of solar energy in detail.
Solar photovoltaic system converts sun lights to electricity, but solar hot water system and also called solar thermal system converts direct heat gained from the sun to hot water. So, they are 2 different amazing technologies to make use of the unlimited sun energy.
In solar photovoltaic system, when the sun lights hit the solar panels surface, an electric direct current is generated and flow over the electrical wires/cables, then it is going to an Inverter which does convert this DC Voltage To AC voltage which is usable for all of our electrical appliances/equipment. So, it’s not complicated system, its simple and profitable project on all scales.
Most of solar companies in the market can promise us about their solar panels quality, warranty, and after sales support… etc. But how can we trust? That is the question, which is difficulty answered. But generally, at least we need to check the supplier who will be around for along term, and this can be determined from good reputation, high quality, high experience and commitment.
In the market you will find many numbers of companies that provide solar components, and for each solar professional, you can take advice from, his certain recommended products, and each solar professional will provide very convincing reasons standing behind his choice. So which opinion you can trust, and which product is really the best?
We need to calculate how much energy our loads will need per day, and this can be done simply by knowing the wattage of each device and how many hours it works per day, multiply the wattage per each device by its run time and add all the wattage hours for all device, so can get total energy required for your home per day. Due to losses & inefficiencies, we recommend to multiply total watt hour by 1.5 factor.
Before implementing any type of solar systems projects, whether it is On Grid or Off Grid solar system, we need to calculate the return on investment of such project, and to be more specific, we need to calculate how much money we will harvest? In other word, how long does it take for the solar system project to pay for itself (payback period)? And what is the extra money we can get after the solar system project returned the expenditures we paid for it.
