Whether for financial purposes, ecological reasons, or both, it may be nice to obtain 100% of your energy from solar. It can have a meaningful environmental effect by keeping Co2 from the atmosphere.
It can also save that money on your bank account via decades of free energy. It is feasible to provide 100% of a home’s energy requirements using solar energy. However, there a few things to consider.
We will examine how each of them may affect your solar system. This blog gives you a better sense of how probable you can fully power your house with solar energy.
How Much Energy Are You Consuming?
To fulfil 100% of the energy requirements of your house, your solar installer must first calculate how much electricity your home consumes. The most frequent method is to look at your previous energy use, reflected in your monthly bills.
It will go beyond reading the latest law, though. Several factors have to be considered by a solar system when developing a system that satisfies all your energy requirements. Your monthly and seasonal energy use will almost certainly fluctuate.
Modern weather in spring and autumn may lead to reduced energy costs when the air conditioner blasts in comparison to scorching summers. Longer days and more inside time may contribute to an increase in energy use during the winter. Your solar installer needs to know how much energy you usually consume to determine the size of a system.
The weather and climate in your region are other variables. In Queensland, the quantity of power generated by a solar system over a year will be different than in Perth.
Wherever you reside, the energy generated by your system is considerably more in summer than in winter. Installers will look at typical weather patterns in your region to obtain a precise estimate of how much energy you can produce throughout the year.
The space available
Solar panels must be placed in a bright, sunny location, which will not interfere with your day daily. For many homes, the most helpful area is the roof, although solar panels may be placed as a ground-mounted solar panel on land if this is more appropriate for your circumstances.
You will need room to build a solar system that can meet 100% of your home’s energy requirements. One 330W solar panel occupies about 19.5 sq ft.
A solar system ranges from 5 kW to 20 kW for a typical house. This implies you’ll need a system that meets all your electric requirements between 312 sq ft to 1189 sq ft. of the sunny area with minimal obstacles.
Not all roofs are the same. North facing roofs get less sun throughout the day, so more panels may need to be installed to compensate for the loss.
If the trees on your roof throw shadow all day, they may have to be pruned or removed. Other obstacles such as neighbouring buildings, fireplaces and even exhaust fans may also affect the manufacturing process.
One of the significant advantages of a ground mounting system is that it may be ideally positioned and tilt for solar output. This can not be achieved with a roof mount.
Decision Between Off-Grid versus Grid-Tied
If your aim is a 100% solar-powered house, you may do it via either an off-grid or grid-based solar system. The distinction is what happens to your surplus power and how you get energy when your system does not generate electricity.
Your system will not generate much energy on cloudy days, wet weather, or in the evening, but you will still need to utilize it. At these times, Solar can still power you by producing additional energy during sunny hours.
That extra energy is either collected in batteries or transmitted to the electrical grid in return for a credit for the grid system in the case of off-grid installations.
An off-grid solar system is entirely separate from electricity. This implies that your house cannot take electricity from the power supply.
However, leaving the grid may be costly, and certain lifestyle adjustments may be needed. Although the batteries continue to fall in price, you can get enough energy to get you through many dark nights and gloomy days. You must be aware of how much energy you use compared to how much energy your system can hold.
With the grid-tied system, you can produce 100% of the power your house consumes without buying batteries to store excess energy.
