India is emerging as the biggest user of solar power both in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar power helps save money on the power bill and is an environment-friendly alternative for non-renewable energy. Even though solar panel is a viable option during summer, it’s the winters that you need to worry about. The solution is a solar inverter and battery, that form a crucial part of a solar system. Your solar inverter can easily convert the energy stored by solar panels into electricity to support your equipment.
If you are planning to install a solar system, it’s essential to know how to calculate solar panel battery and inverter capacity. Here’s how you can calculate it-
Know your Power Requirement
The first step is to determine how much power you require. Knowing how much power you need to run all the appliances is essential. Add the power of each piece of equipment to know the load in watts. So, suppose your required load is 490 watts, and you receive 7 hours of sunlight; hence:
490 watts x 7 hours= 3430 watt-hours
Get the Panels of the Right Dimension
Now that you know the watt-hours, you can easily determine the size of panels that can meet your requirements easily. Remember that there will be a difference in the amount of sunlight during winters, so you can decrease the hour of sunlight received to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Divide the watt-hours by the hours of sunlight to determine the watt of solar panel you should install-
Daily energy consumption in watt-hours / 3 = 980/3 = 326.7 W
Since the UPS supports a 12V system, we need 12V panels of 100W or 150W
So, you can install 3 x 100W panels in parallel or 2 x 150W panels in parallel.
Calculate your Solar Panel Battery Capacity
The capacity of an inverter depends upon the backup hours required to meet your power needs. You need to calculate the AH rating of the battery now-
Suppose your battery is 12v rated, divide the watt-hours by 12V, and you will know the Ah rating.
Battery AH = Total Watt-hours * 1.9/ (no. of batteries * 12) = 980*1.9/(12*1) = 155 AH
Suitable Inverter
Now that you have all the numbers choosing a suitable inverter is easy. For the 630 watt load with little added tolerance for the safer side, your most suitable option is to get an inverter that falls in the same Volt-Amp (VA) rating.
Now that you know how to calculate solar panel battery and inverter capacity, choosing a solar inverter and battery would become easier.
If you are still finding it relatively difficult to calculate the solar panel battery and inverter power capacity, you can use our solar panel calculator for home and solar battery calculator to decide. We offer solar panels, UPS, inverter, and solar panel batteries for different specifications and power requirements. With a solar calculator, you can easily determine bill savings and panel size requirements. You can also consult our solar experts to know which inverter and battery will be the best for your solar panels and can fulfil your requirements. We are your one-stop solution for everything solar.
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