Calculation of Solar Panel, Inverter, Battery Charger
The following post explains through calculations how to correctly select and interface solar panel, inverter and charger controller combinations, to achieve the most optimal results from set up.
Calculating Solar Panel, Inverter and Battery Charger Specifications
For convenience, let's say you have a device or load of 100 watts that you want to operate via solar power for about ten hours each night.
The following mentioned parameters will need to be strictly calculated and configured in order to properly determine the dimensions of the solar panel, battery, charge controller and inverter.
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Estimating Load Wattage
1) First you will need to estimate how many watts of power you might need for the specified load.
Let's say you have a 100 watt load that needs to operate for about 10 hours, in that case the power required can be estimated simply by multiplying the load by the hours, as given below
100 watts x 10 hours = 1,000 watt hours . This becomes the full power required from the panel.
Determining Approximate Solar Panel Dimensions
2) Next, we need to determine the approximate dimensions of the solar panel to meet the above estimated requirement. If we assume approximately ten hours of daily optimum sunlight, the specifications for a solar panel can be calculated simply and quickly, as given in the following expression:
1,000 watt hours / 10 hours of sunshine = 100 watt solar panels.
However, you can see that you can normally get a fair amount of sunlight around 10 hours during most of the summer seasons, but the winter season can produce about 4-5 hours of effective sunlight.
Given the above scenario, you may also agree and recommend considering the worst possible sunny hours in the calculations so that your load continues to run optimally even when the sun has weakened.
So taking into account 4 to 5 hours of sunlight per day, we calculate the correct power for the solar panel that will be able to keep your load running all year round.
battery ah calculation
3) Once you have calculated the solar panel as calculated above, it is time to calculate the AH rating for the batteries that may be required to operate the specified load under all conditions. If the selected battery is rated at 12V, in that case:
Dividing 1,000 amp hours by 12 volts = 83 amp hours of reserve battery power.
Let's elevate this value a bit further with an additional 20% tolerance, which gives a round shape of about 100 AH in the end. Therefore, a 100AH 12V battery is what you may eventually need for the inverter.
Evaluation Controller Specifications
4) Now, in order to find out how big your solar charge controller will need to be for the above calculated parameters, you may need to take into account your solar panel current or amperage specs, which is the panel's requirement. The wattage rating can be obtained by dividing it with its voltage rating (remember Ohm's law?).
100/12 = 8.3 Amps।
We've applied a 'plus tolerance' to all previous parameters so far, so let's also show some leniency to the panel's amp spec and instead sticking to the 8.3 amps limit, you can be happy that this level is approx. Will it increase to 10 Amps? It looks good, doesn't it?
Assessing Inverter Specifications
5) Finally we boil down the inverter specifications, and determine the reasonably accurate capacity, which will keep the unit compatible with the results discussed above, and keep the load running without issues whenever necessary.
Since we already know the maximum load watts which is 100 Watts, it means that we simply choose an inverter that can handle 100 Watts comfortably.
That means, we just need to get an inverter rated at 100 watts, .... well, you might be thinking of adding some tolerance to this candidate as well, not an issue, instead of 100 watts You can opt for a 125 watt inverter, so all the gadgets can happily 'shake-hands' and reach your home. Free round the clock, free forever.