How Many Solar Panels Do I Need?

The number of solar panels you need depend on your energy consumers. The more you consume, the more solar power you need. If you consider the number of panels to be very simple, you need at least 10 watts of panels to turn on a 10w radio on a sunny day. But there are always points to keep in mind! The first is the amount of solar radiation. The maximum radiation at noon is when the sun radiates vertically to the surface of the panel. So a 10 watt panel produces just as much power as at noon. As a result, it’s better to increase your panel’s capacity slightly. On the other hand, it should be taken into account that, with increasing temperature, the solar panel losses also increase, so it has to be considered that the panel’s power loss in terms of temperature rise. The next point is the amount of sunlight in your area. For example, in the northern cities, on average, radiation is approximately 4 hours during the year and in central regions of Iran between 5 and 5.5 hours. So, in the northern regions or in general, areas that are less sunny or located on mountainous spots due to their geographical conditions, should consider the value of the solar panel more than the power of the consumer. The next point is that if you want to save the sun’s energy to keep you at night, then in addition to the day’s power supply, there’s also the thought of having more power panels for storing energy at night. In this case, for example, if you want to have the 10W radio 24 hours a day, you need to have total 240 watts hours. So if you are in an area where the radiation is about 4 hours, this energy can be supplied by a 80-watt panel within a 4 hour interval. It means that 15 watts per day will keep your 10 watts radio on and keep the battery and the other 65 watts store to your radio at night, and the next day the cycle repeats itself again.