[GBlist] Solar Panel output units (was Units of Measure)

[Kirsten Flynn <kir@declan.com>]

Watts or Kilowatts (1000 Watts) and Kilowatt/Hours (1 Kilowatt per Hour).

The easiest thing is to find a reputable vendor, fax them your utility 
bill and let them design a system for you.  I like the folks at 
http://www.realgoods.com/ (who wouldn't?  Someone on this list thinks 
they are expensive though, so compare prices) if you live anywhere near 
their Solar Living Center you can see most of these products in use 
http://www.solarliving.org/index.cfm -- There are other fine vendors too.

Look on your last utility bill.  You are charged based on how many 
Kilowatthours you've used that month.  They may have an average daily 
consumption - in my case 15 KWH per day in summer and 40 KWH in winter 
(we have some electric heat).

A solar panel will have an output in Watts (the ones I know of do 20 to 
80w but the technology is improving), this is the maximum (noon of a 
sunny day).  Depending on your location and weather (the amount of 
sunshine you get) your panel will produce somewhere in the range of .1 
to .5 KWH per day.  Add this up for the total output of your system.  
Remember Winter when you might need more you'll have less sunlight.

But it's a little more complicated - you don't use your electricity at 
an even rate and you can only produce it during the  day.  You'll need 
to store it maybe in batteries and maybe your electric company will buy 
your excess when you have excess and sell you theirs when you need it.

Solar Electric panels are cool but expensive - Without doing the math I 
think you'd get a better return from solar hot water because the 
installation costs are so much lower.

On Tuesday, October 30, 2001, at 07:32 PM, Sacie H Lambertson wrote:

> Along the same line, does anyone have any idea how one determines the # 
> of
> solar panels one can usefully use?    What units of measure do I need to
> know?  This of course goes with the thread about average water use.   
> Sacie
> Lambertson
>
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______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________