words Al Woods
Many people are looking to make some changes in their lives to become more environmentally friendly. One of the most significant considerations for shrinking your carbon footprint is where your house’s power comes from.
Are fossil fuels burned to provide your electricity? If so, a solar generator could help reduce your dependency on fossil fuels. By converting the sun’s rays into electricity, you can have clean energy for your appliances.
Luckily, a solar generator can give you the benefits of clean energy without the investment of installing panels on the roof. If you’re interested in purchasing your own generator, learn more about what you should consider for finding the perfect choice for your home.
1. How Many Watt-Hours Does My Home Need?
Watts is how the amount of energy produced by panels is measured. This could be the difference between whether a generator is meant to charge a few mobile devices or an entire home.
As a general rule of thumb when shopping for a good solar generator, it is essential to remember that your generator should be double the size of your inverter’s output. This is important because your generator will need to be able to transmit continuous power even while charging larger appliances.
Determining how many watt-hours your home needs is a relatively simple formula:
- First, determine your monthly wattage use
- Then, divide that number by the number of peak sunshine hours per day in your region
For example, if, every month, your household uses 1000kWh/month with, on average, about five sunshine hours per day, you would need a generator that is 5,000 watts.
2. Charging Time
As stated earlier, the number of watts needed to power your home is dependent on its size. The same is true for your generator’s charging time. A solar generator’s charging time can be between an hour and about two days.
Determining what your charging time will be is determined by generator size and the location of your panels to the sun and weather. Although solar energy can be an effective energy source regardless of geographical location, weather like snow or clouds can affect the speed at which a generator can charge.
Luckily, this issue can be solved by installing a large panel arrangement. This combats the loss of solar energy activity in inclement weather.
With solar panels, the ideal way to catch optimal sunlight throughout the day is to rotate your panels based on the sun’s position over the course of the day. This also helps with charging your generator. If your panels are in a position to receive substantial sunlight, your generator has a better chance of a speedy charge time. Make sure to learn more about solar panels and their efficiency before purchasing a generator. This will help you make the most of your money.
3. Optimized Peak Power
Peak power is the maximum amount of energy that solar panels can create. This is a form of output that specifies how much power your generator can provide before it must switch over to running output.
It’s essential to know your generator’s starting input, or initial peak power, to gauge if it can accurately power all appliances without lag.
When shopping for a solar generator, pay attention to this because the higher the peak power, the better it will be able to power your home. Peak power also assists in charging time as well.
Find the Perfect Generator for Your Home
When shopping for a solar generator, there are as many factors to consider to ensure you have something that will keep your home running as it should. This addition to your home is an environmentally friendly decision but should not be rushed into.
Many believe this form of energy is the way of the future, but this doesn’t mean you should buy the first machine you see. With proper consideration, you can get the ideal equipment for your house.
