Installing solar solutions at your house is a great way to reduce electricity bills while also doing your bit for the environment. However, choosing the right size solar system for your home can be confusing with all the technical jargon floating around. This blog post aims to simplify solar sizing so you can make the best decision as per your needs and budget.
What factors determine solar size?
The size of the solar system is primarily dependent on two things:
- Your electricity usage
Analyze your monthly electricity consumption. Your solar vendor can help determine this based on past electricity bills. The size of the solar system should be such that it generates enough electricity to at least meet your daily needs.
- 2.Space available
Measure the shadow-free roof area or ground space where you want to install the solar panels. This will determine how many panels can be installed, which in turn impacts the system's capacity. Leave some buffer for future expansion.
Other aspects like budget, government subsidies and incentives, future electricity needs, etc. also play a role in solar sizing.
Calculate your electricity usage
Here is a step-by-step process to calculate your home’s electricity requirement:
- Analyze electricity bills for the past 12 months to understand your monthly and yearly consumption.
- 2.List down all the electrical appliances and gadgets in your home. Note that their wattage ratings are usually found on the back of the appliance.
- 3.Estimate the number of hours each appliance runs daily. Multiply this with the wattage to get ‘watt-hour’ consumption per day.
- 4.Sum up the consumption of all appliances for the daily electricity need. Multiply this by 30 to get the average monthly usage.
- 5.Compare this calculated figure with monthly usage from electricity bills for accuracy.
Once you have reliably estimated your home’s electricity consumption, you can size the solar system to meet your entire or partial needs, depending on your budget.
What solar system capacity do I need?
Ideally, you can start with a solar system that generates about 90% of your home's monthly electricity units. This ensures you get maximum savings while also being connected to the grid as a backup.
As a benchmark, a 1 kW solar system with average sun conditions can generate 4-5 kWh per day. For context, 1 ceiling fan (75W) running 10 hrs per day = 0.75 kWh. So a 1kW system can typically run 5 fans all day!
Here is a simple rule-of-thumb approach to sizing your solar:
- Estimate your home’s daily electricity usage, let’s say 10kWh
- Get solar system to supply 90%, which is 9kWh in this case
- By benchmark of 1kW solar system gives 5kWh on average per day
- So you need roughly 9 / 5 = 1.8 kW system or 1800W
Round this up to nearest 500W to size your ideal solar system.
What components are needed for a solar system?
A grid-connected solar system has below key equipment:
Solar Panels: Made of photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight into electricity. Poly-crystalline panels offer good efficiency at a reasonable cost.
Inverter: Converts DC power output from solar panels to usable AC power. It is the brains synchronizing with the grid supply 24x7.
Net Meter: Digital electricity meter that records both import and export units. Solar generation exported to the grid is adjusted in the bill.
Other accessories, like cables, switches, earthing, etc., complete the setup.
The solar panels and inverter/batteries, depending on the type of system, are sized based on the requirements you calculated previously. All other components are typically standardized. Some pre-engineered solar designs minimize cables through module-level electronics.
It is suggested to buy branded components from Waaree for inverters and 25 to 30-year warranty for solar panels. This ensures the best lifetime value.
What are different kinds of solar systems?
There are primarily 3 types of solar systems:
- Grid-tied Solar System: Solar power directly feeds into your home grid supply during the day; surplus is exported to the utility grid for credit adjustments. No batteries allow for optimized roof space usage. Ideal for load-shedding problems.
- Off-Grid Solar System: Often in remote areas without grid access, it consists of solar panels, batteries, and a charge controller to independently power all electrical needs. 24x7. Requires battery maintenance.
- Hybrid Solar System: A dual-combination approach has both grid-tied and small off-grid systems with batteries for essential backup during outages. Get the best of both at an optimized system cost.
Most urban homes adopt grid-tied structures, while rural areas may opt for off-grid or hybrid solar models based on the availability of electricity access.
What are the costs involved?
A 1 kW solar system typically costs ₹50,000–₹60,000, depending on technology and specifications. Higher-capacity systems have a lower per-kW cost due to economies of scale. The key cost elements involved are:
- Solar panels: 60% of the total cost
- Inverters + Installation: 30%
- Other accessories: 10%
However, this investment pays for itself over 5-6 years through savings on electricity bills. Most solar power equipment comes with a 20–25-year performance warranty, giving free electricity for the rest of the system's life!
You also benefit from:
- Reduced monthly electricity bills
- Subsidies & accelerated depreciation tax benefits
- Support during power cuts
- Increased home resale value
- Peace of mind when using a clean energy source
Conclusion
Solar energy system design for domestic households primarily depends on available space and electricity usage. Get expert consultation to design the most optimal solution tailored to your needs.
As leaders in the Indian solar industry with 3+ decades of experience and trusted by 50,000+ customers, Waaree offers high-quality solar systems with a generation guarantee for becoming aatmanirbhar in energy. Invest in solar now to join the clean energy revolution!
As India's leading solar brand with over 30 years of expertise, Waaree offers end-to-end solutions tailored to your specific energy needs. Waaree has installed 5000+ successful residential solar projects pan-India, leading the solar revolution with top-tier solar products, innovative designs, and satisfaction guarantees.
Get in touch with Waaree solar experts for personalized consultation and highly optimized solar system design for your home to maximize self-reliance. Waaree also assists with all paperwork for subsidies, net metering, approvals, etc., making your switch to solar smooth and hassle-free.
With the engineering might of India's largest solar group, Waaree solar panels and solutions promise the best value, performance, and service support for powering your home with free sunshine!
