Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
When you look at your utility bill, your electricity usage is measured in kWh, which stands for kiloWatt-hours (1000 Watt-hours) and is what your utility company charges you for at the end of the month. However, when you look at the electrical specifications of an appliance, a solar…
The 5kW (5000 Watts) rating on a solar system means that, provided enough direct sunlight, the system could potentially produce 5000 Watts of power. But the actual amount of power that a system of this size produces is not constant and will fluctuate throughout the day. For example,…
Electricity has many measurement units, such as: Volts, which measure Electrical Potential, or simply voltage. Amps, which measure Electrical Current. Watts or kiloWatts, which measure Electrical Power. Watt-hours or kiloWatt-hours, which measure Electrical Energy. The 4kW (4000W) rating of a solar system means that, provided there’s enough direct…
Unlike Energy, which is accumulative and is measured in Watt-hours (Wh) or kiloWatt-hours (kWh), Power is instantaneous and is measured in Watts (W) or kiloWatts (kW). Power measures the rate at which Energy is being generated. For example, a 3kW (3000 Watt) solar system is capable of producing 3000…
In a solar system, a battery bank has one important job, and that is to offset 100% of your energy usage. So naturally, when sizing a battery bank for your solar system, your energy usage, among other things, should be taken into consideration. If sized improperly, the battery…
In the summer, with the right weather conditions, a 2kW (2000 Watts) solar system could produce up to 2 kiloWatts (or 2000 Watts) of power, or even more in some cases. However, what really matters at the end of the day, literally, is not the amount of power…
There are many types and sizes of TVs, so, if the question is “how many watts does a tv use?”, the answer is “it depends on the TV”. However, there are a couple of ways to determine the power usage (watts) of your TV, as well as its…
The amount of solar power that you need to run your grow lights can be calculated using the daily energy consumption of your grow lights, and the amount of sunlight that you receive in your location. However, in addition to the solar panels, you will also need the…
A 7kW rating on a solar system means that the system is potentially capable of producing 7 kilowatts (7000 watts) of power at a given moment. But this amount of power production is not guaranteed and would require a certain amount of sunlight to happen. In other words,…
With the right weather and enough sunlight, at a given moment, a 10kW solar system is capable of producing 10 kilowatts, which is a substantial amount of power. However, what you pay for at the end of the month, and what really matters, is not Power (kW), but…
