‘veneon7 ‘Calculating Your Sar Power Regiroments Calculating Your Solar Power Requirements There are three main things to consider in order to choose a Solar panel or create a Solar system, 1: How much energy can your battery store? 2: How much energy will your appliance! ‘over a period of time? How much eneray can a Solar panel generate over a period of time? Firstly you need to know how much energy your battery can store and then select a Solar panel that can replenish your ‘stock’ of energy in the battery in line with your pattern of ust 41: How much energy can your battery store? Battery capacity is measured in Amp Hours (e.g. 17AH). You need to convert this to Watt Hours by multiplying the AH figure by the battery voltage (@.g. 12V). thisis just the simple calculation below +X Battery size in AH) x Y (Battery Voltage) = Z (Power available in watthours + Fora 20AH, 12V battory the Watt Hours figure is 20(X) x 12(Y) = 240 WH (2) ‘This means the battery could supply 240W for 1 hour, 120W for 2 hours or even 2w for 120 hours ie. the more energy you take, the faster the battery discharges. However you are never really able to take all the power from a battery as once the voltage drops below your equipment’s requirements itwill no longer be able to power it. There isa simple rule of thumb for this but please check your battery's specifications to make sure, + Lead acid batiery’s will give you around 50% of their rated power. (Le. 2 10Ah battery has SAh of usable power) + Lion battery's will give you around 80% of thelr rated power. (.0. a 10Ah battery has BAh of usable power) ‘A.common question that people ask regarding the battery'sis, Q Are car battery's just as good for solar as leisure battery's? A. The answer to this is no they are nol. The reason is because a leisure battery has been designed to be discharged and recharge, a Car battery is designed to provide a lot of power quickly butit’s not able to cope with a low internal charge and recover fully. We provide a wide range of sealed led acid batteries that are ideal for solar applications here hitpuhwww solartoctnoogy co. uksupport-centrecalcuatingyour-solar-requrments 18‘veneon7 Calculating Your Slar Power Rexgiroments ‘The power consumption of appliances is generally given in Wats (e.g. A small portable TV is around 20W this information can be found on the data sticker that most electrical tems have). To calculate the energy you will use over time, just multiply the power consumption by the hours of intended use. ‘The 20W TV in this example, on for 2 hours, will take 20 x2 1OWH from the battery. Repeat this forall the appliances you wish to use, then add the results o establish total consumption lke below. TV 20w on for 2 hours per day = 40w per day Radio 10w on for § hours per day 50w per day Water pump (20w) on for 20mins per day 6 perday Main Light 30w on for 3h per day 80w per day Spot lights 1Ow on for 1h per day ‘10w per day Total = 198w perday ‘An easy way to lower your power usage isto swap outhalogen lights for LED lights. LED lights generally use 80% less ‘energy for a similar light evel, We have a range of 12V LED lighis here 3: How much eneray can a Solar panel generat a period of time? ‘The final partto sizing your solar systom is the solar panels. The power generation rating of a Solar panel is also given in Watts (e.g. our part number STPO10, isa 10W solar panel). In Theory o calculate the energy itcan supply to the battery, you ‘multiply Watts (of the solar panel) by the hours exposed to sunshine. In practice its nota great way to calculate the output fom a solar panel so we work to few simple rues. We would generally advise that an average UK winters day will only give you 1 hours sunshine ‘An average UK summers days will give you 6 hours of sunshine. Soin winter @ 10w panel wil provide 10w worth of energy back nto your battery, (10w x 1 = 10w) ow) Im Summer a 10w pane! will provide 60w worth of energy back into your battery. (10w x Using the above calculation takes into consideration any losses in the system from the regulator, cables and battery you may be using, We can supply you a range of solar panels form a small Sw unitall the way to 150w units, for more information on this look at our web site here hitpuhwww solartoctnoogy co. uksupport-centrecalcuatingyour-solar-requrmentssenor Calculating Your Setar Powor Reguiroments 4: Puttin her to size Knowing your power requirements and the time of year you want to use the system is vital to this step. We will use the example above with a power requirement of 196w per day. It this is the requirements for fate spring fo early Autumn use we could use this equation ‘Watts required /time of year sunshine hours = panel size + 196 /6=32.6Wpanel ‘As we don’t make @ 32.6w solar panel we would recommend looking ata 30w or 40w solar panel for this application However ifthis was an all year requirementi.e. also needed in the UK's winfer the numbers would change Watts required /time of year sunshine hours=panel size + 196 /1 = 196Wpanel ‘As we don’tmake a 196w solar panel we would recommend looking at wo 100w solar panels for this application, The final Piece The final Piece to complete your solar system is the Charge Contoller or Voltage Regulator. ts basically the same thing just a different name. This essential piece of your solar system controls the Charge put into your battery, stops overcharging and prevents the solar panel pulling power from the battery at night. (CHARGE CONTROLLER We hope this Guide has helped you understand the sizing ofa simple solar panel setup. Ifyou have any other questions regarding sizing a system for your requirements please give us a call on 0800 7747755 (from inside the UK) or +44 1684 774000 from any other place, po wwwsolartectnology.coklsupport-centrecalcusing your-soler-requrments 38,