When talking about solar panels, we first need to know what is exactly the cost of a solar panel and whether the cost is of a pre-made solar panel or a self built one. Let’s examine the cost of the various solar panels.
When you decide to get solar energy usage at your place, you have to decide what type of solar panel would you want. A self made solar panel or a commercial, pre-made one. For the ones that are ready made and just have to be placed and install will cost you around $900 or $12/watt. Again it also depends on the size of a place where the solar system would be installed. If you have a medium sized area, then the cost might range up to $25,000 and for a large house may cost $50,000. Installing a system would be costing around $7-9 per watt.
Now that the cost of getting ready made solar panels are reasonably high, one might need to learn the art of making solar panels at home.
Not on a large scale, but small enough to bring you some benefits. A self made solar panel could cost around $200. To learn how to do this, you will have to log on to special online sites that give tutorials on how to make a solar panel at home.
The next important factor to calculate solar panel cost is to determine the usage that will be needed in the house. You need to know whether it is to be used for electricity, heating or water systems and also the position of the house towards the sun. Is there enough sunlight to be able to conserve that much amount of energy or should extra measurements be taken to enhance the storage of solar energy. All these factors contribute in the cost calculation.
There is a short and effective way to determine the electricity cost if solar panel is used for the purpose. See the monthly bill and calculate the KWH (kilowatt hours) that is used for that specific month. Multiply that amount by 1000 to get the Watt of electricity. Dividing the number by 30 will give the average use. At the end of it divide that number by the number of sunlight hours per day and you will get the average solar electrical energy that should be required.
Hi,
To help people work out if solar is for them I have created a solar power cost benefit calculator see http://www.ecowho.com/tools/solar_savings_calculator.php
With this you can model various funding and rate of return situations and see how quickly your solar system will pay for itself.
There are also other calculators to help with sizing a system and working out the power you could be able to generate at your precise location based on annual solar availability.
Enjoy
Keith
There are many variables that can affect the cost of installing a solar system into your home, Solar Panels Cost can vary depending on the size of your home, the amount of electricity you use on a daily basis, the amount of exposure your house has to the sun etc. I work with Sharp who offers free solar consultation that can help you to estimate the potential cost of installing a system. I think it is important to note that there are state rebates and federal tax credits that can help assist you in the cost of going solar. Lastly, solar panels are an important way to reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment.
very true……Your valuable information is much appreciated
I think the sola pannels look cool. Not much good for my downstairs flat though