So what size solar power system is best for you?

Good question. The simple answer is that the best size solar power system for you is one that is tailored to your unique situation. So what factors need to be considered when sizing a solar power system?

What Are You Wanting To Achieve?

Find out what size solar power system is best for you

The first and most important point is what are you wanting to achieve with solar power? Here are some common things that people want to achieve with solar power that influences what size solar power system is best for them:

  • NO MORE POWER BILLS!
  • Cover my day time power consumption as much as possible
  • Offset my electricity bill as much as possible
  • Protect myself from ever rising electricity costs
  • Reduce my carbon footprint
  • I want to go totally off the electricity grid
  • I want a backup power source if there is a power failure

The required size of your solar power system and the best components to go with the system will vary dramatically depending on what you are wanting to achieve from it. The size of the solar power system that you choose will also be very dependent on the following:

Your Sites Solar Power Resource

Making the most of solar power by installing solar panels on tilt framing

Making the most of solar power by installing solar panels on tilt framing

As a guide 1 kW of solar panels installed will take up 7 square metres of roof space.

If you have a massive electricity bill and want to cover it completely with solar power it would require a very large, unshaded space to house the solar panels to accomplish such a feat. As most solar panels are installed on roofs this would mean that you need enough roof space to install the solar panels on that is facing the correct way. Solar panels on the Gold Coast work the most efficiently if they are installed facing due North at a pitch between 25° – 30° although this is optimum it cannot always be achieved, solar panels can be installed facing East or West as well, just be aware that they will be up to 15% less efficient.

If you do have the roof space facing the right way it is also important to ensure that it is unshaded roof space. Any shade on solar power panels is very detrimental to the output of not only the panels in shade but quite often all the solar panels. It is very important that at the very least all the solar panels are in full sun between 9am to 3pm if facing due North.

Your Local Areas Solar Power Feed In Situation

Depending on what you are wanting to achieve from your solar power system the size solar power system that is best for you will also depend on the feed in tariffs that you are eligible for. For detailed information regarding your options with feed in tariffs in Queensland check out information here about the QLD solar power net feed in tariff rebates.

If you are in NSW check out the information here about the NSW solar power net feed in tariff.

Your Sites Power Consumption

Knowing how much electricity your property consumes and when is very important to selecting a correctly sized solar power system that is going to suit your unique situation best. From your electricity bill you can very easily see how many kWh of electricity you have consumed over the quarter and most electricity bills break this down into a daily kWh consumption guide as well. Although this is helpful it is not very accurate as if you had a load like an air conditioner running for one week of the quarter that load will be averaged out over the whole quarter and give an inaccurate figure on daily consumption.

Another important point is that it is very hard to tell just how much of the daily electricity consumption is in daylight hours from this readout – this is important to know to ensure the size of the solar power system best suits the feed in tariffs that are in place. For example if you know that you do not get paid a good rate for surplus solar power then usually you would want to size the solar power system to keep surplus solar power to a minimum. To ensure a solar power system is sized correctly the best way to go is arrange Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions to install monitoring equipment in your switchboard to monitor the power being consumed over a week of normal power consumption to ascertain the optimum sized solar power system to suit your unique requirements.

With this graph you can see the size of the solar power system has been carefully selected to cover the daytime power consumption.
The solar power system above was sized after monitoring the power consumption at the property to ensure that as little power as possible was sent back to the grid as surplus power. You can see from the graph above that it is performing very well!

What size solar power system is best for you?

So after all that what size solar power system is best for you? As can be seen a lot of factors need to be taken into consideration with the results of an incorrect decision potentially costing you more in the long term. At Gold Coast Solar Power Solutions we are experts in the design, supply and install of solar power systems, why not contact us today and organise your free, no obligation solar power inspection and quotation today?

Select which size solar power system is best with the experts! If you live on the Gold Coast click here for your FREE solar power site inspection & quotation.

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