1. How Much Solar Energy Your Roof Can Generate
The amount of solar energy your roof can generate is affected by many factors, including the angle of inclination of the roof, the efficiency of the solar system in receiving and converting solar energy, and the duration and intensity of solar. So it’s impossible to get an exact value by simple calculation. Ideally, you need to calculate the amount of solar energy that can be generated by the roof through the following steps:
1.1 First, measure the size of the area where the solar panels will be installed on the roof, determine the length and width of the roof, and then measure the specific area of the installation; if you encounter irregular surfaces, you can use the cut-and-patch method of measurement.
1.2 Next you need to determine the number of solar panels required. To calculate the number of solar panels required, simply divide the total area of the area where the solar panels are to be installed by the area occupied by the individual solar panels. Take the most commonly used 400 watt solar panel for example, a 400 watt solar panel covers an area of about 17.5 square feet, if the area where you are installing your solar system is 1050 square feet, this area can accommodate 60 400 watt solar panels.
1.3 Light conditions vary from place to place. To determine how much solar energy your roof can generate, you need to determine the average number of effective sunsets per day of the year in your area, which is more convincing due to the larger statistical sample base. For example, if your region has a total of 2190 hours of effective sunlight in 2023, then the average number of hours of effective sunlight per day in 2023 is 6 hours.
1.4 Determine the number of watts of electricity generated by each solar panel. Each solar panel has a fixed wattage, such as 100, 200, and 400 watt solar panels, which describes the efficiency of the solar panel’s power generation, and you can find this data in the solar panel’s instruction manual.
Finally, after you have collected this data you can calculate how much solar energy your roof can generate.
The formula is: the average daily solar energy generated by the roof in a year = the area of the roof used for the installation of solar panels ÷ the area occupied by each solar panel × the wattage of each solar panel× the average daily effective light hours in one day x 365.
For example, if a roof with an area of 100m² is fitted with 550watt PV panels, the size of the panels is 2.278×1.134m, and it is assumed that the length of peak sunlight in the area is 5 hours per day. Then by calculating the annual power generation of the roof:
100 ÷ 2.278÷1.134×0.55×5×365=38856kwh
The following chart shows the peak hours of sunshine for each region
2. What can you do to increase the amount of solar energy generated by your roof?
There are many ways to increase the amount of solar energy generated by your roof. For example, you can always clean the surface of the glass panels on your solar panels so that more of the sun’s rays are received and utilized by the solar panels. Also, when solar panels are used for too long, their efficiency in receiving and converting solar energy is not as good as it used to be, which can lead to the loss of some solar energy, and then you can choose to replace the old solar panels with new ones. All of the above ways can increase the amount of solar energy generated by your roof.
3. Summary
How much solar energy your roof generates can be calculated by the formula. Calculating how much solar energy your roof generates will help you to allocate energy rationally, and at the same time, mastering the method of increasing the amount of solar energy your roof generates will make the solar energy system work better for you, and become a big help to your life.
