Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
Your guide to smart, optimal, self-sufficient energy.
In this article, I’ll provide a few examples that explain the relationship between AC ratings (in BTU) and their power usage. I’ll also show you how to measure the power usage and energy consumption of your own AC. But before that, I’ll try to shed some light on…
A 1000 kWh per month is a reasonable amount of energy consumption, therefore, a solar system that could offset that will be of a reasonable size. However, this isn’t a “one size fits all” situation. The size of the system and the number of solar panels necessary to…
The following article explains an easy way to estimate the size of the system in kW (kilo-Watts), and the number of solar panels that you need to offset 1500 kWh (kilo-Watt-hours) of monthly energy consumption. How many solar panels do I need for 1500 kWh per month 1500…
To determine exactly how many solar panels you would need to offset 2000 kWh of monthly energy consumption, you need an estimate of the average amount of sunlight that you receive in your location. In this article, I’ll explain how this works and show you how to estimate…
Solar panels consist of solar cells that are wired together to convert sunlight into energy. The bigger the solar panel, the more power it produces. There’s a variety of solar panel sizes on the market. However, in this article, I’ll focus on: Residential solar panels: which are used…
In this article, you’ll find all the information you need about the weights of different types of solar panels. How much do solar panels weigh? Solar panels come in different types and sizes, which allows their use for different applications. Bigger solar panels will generally be heavier, but…
In this article, we’ll see if solar panels can work on cloudy, rainy, or snowy days. And if so, we’ll discuss how well they do perform. Do solar panels work on cloudy days Solar panels do work on cloudy days, however, the power production will generally be less…
Solar panels are amazing, you put them in the sun, and they produce power. But for a solar panel to produce maximum power, it needs to be well-oriented. This is because the more direct sunlight a solar panel receives, the more power it’ll produce. But, do solar panels…
In general, solar panels can work in the shade, but the effects that shade has on solar panels might be different than what you would expect. For example, in the image above, you can see that one shaded cell (out of 36 cells) can have an enormous impact…
If the inverter you’re using to run your refrigerator is undersized, the refrigerator may not work at all. Or it might work, but at the expense of the inverter, which will fail prematurely. Since no one likes to waste money, there are a few details worth looking at…
A 100-watt solar panel can produce anywhere from 300Wh to 700Wh (Watt-hours) of energy in one day. At 12 Volts, and with an MPPT charge controller, that’s 25Ah to 60Ah (Amp-hours) of daily energy production. But is it enough to run a refrigerator? In this article, I’ll show…
To run a refrigerator on batteries for 24 hours, you would need anywhere from 50Ah to 300Ah (Amp-hours) of battery capacity. 50Ah being for a small 12-volt fridge/freezer (1.6-2.5 Cu. ft.), and 300 Ah being for a full-size refrigerator (18-22 Cu. ft.). The right amount of battery capacity…
