Making the best choices when choosing solar panels and batteries.
Every individual on this planet has a view on solar electricity genration but the sad thing is that all they know is that when the sun comes up your solar panel gets the energy it needs to produce electricity for the day. What they don’t know is a solar panel has its measurements and ratings are in WATTS per Hour and different batteries and inverters have different choices of solar panels.
For instance a 12v battery could use two 6v solar panels or one 12v solar panel to charge. similarly two 12v batteries could use two 12v solar panels or one 20v solar panel or one 30v solar panel to charge.
So, these above are the least of things you need to know about solar panels, solar batteries and its installation. So that when going shoping, looking for a tech-shop and support or making choices on prices and which solar panel or battery to purchase you should know now that there are things to consider.
Things to consider before purchasing a solar panel
1. How much energy you battery can store.
2. How much energy your appliances consume over time.
3. How much energy can a solar panel generate over a period of time or over a period of sunlight.
Battery: 
Knowing the battery capacity is of a vital importance. This is because one could purchase a battery a 12v battery but has a 6v solar panel, of course it might charge but it will take like forever. So to avoid this one has to know the capacity, the voltage or at least the watts in other to purchase a battery for his solar panel.
A list of batteries and thier ratings
Note: Prices may differ from your dealer.
- A 12 Voltage Battery
> Ampere/hour — 100 ah/hr = 0.1 mah/hr
> Watts/hour — 1200 watts/hr
> Price: ₦62,000 OR $172 - A 12 Voltage Battery (Low)
> Ampere/hour — 55 > ah/hr = 0.055 mah/hr
> Watts/hour — 660 watts/hr
> Price: ₦32,010 OR $88.8 - A 6 Voltage Battery
> Ampere/hour — 150 ah/hr = 0.15 mah/hr
> Watts/hour — 900 watts/hr
> Price: ₦72,092 OR $200 - A 2 Voltage Battery
> Ampere/hour — 200 ah/hr = 0.2 mah/hr
> Watts/hour — 400 watts/hr
> Price: ₦7,209.2 to ₦100,000 OR $20 to $277.59
A simple house hold solar electricity battery set up
2. Appliances consumption:
Depending on your battery capacity, you should know what turn on and when to turn on some certain appliances when using solar electricity especially when there is no sun and you are dependent on the batteries. For instance I purchased a 12v with 100ah battery ⇒ 12v * 100ah = 1200watts and my appliances in the house are; ceiling fan (75 watts), three energy bulbs (14 watts each), refidgerator (745 watts), deep freezer (325 watts) and an air conditioner (500 watts).
I would cut out the air conditioner and leave the ceiling fan refriderator cause in two hours the battery will be dead and I will leave the deep freezer for about an hour then cut it out too, am now left with 800 watts after one hour
with 800 watts I will keep the ceiling fan on for about three more hours while the energy bulb will be on the whole time and now left with 519 watts which is equal to 43ah = 43,250 mah that I will use to charge my phone of 4000 mah. Now my phone is full after three hours am left with 31250 which implies 375 so my light bulb will stay on till the next day when I charge the battery with solar energy again.
Important Notice:
Battery limits could limit your expectations especially when you didn’t make an accurate calculation. For instance lead acid battery is rated 50% which means it allows you use 50% of its full charge telling you its 100% for exampe a 240 watts/hr battery will give you 120 watts/hr usage. Where as Li-ion battery will give you 80% of its power, example a 1000 ah/hr battery will give you 800 ah/hr usage. This implications are for the safety and recyclabilty of the battery when recharging it.
3.The right solar panel:
The right solar panel is also of vital importance and you need to pay keen attention to it when making the choice. lets continue with our 12v : 1200 watts battery example and look for a solar panel that is suitable for it. But first lets take note of this calculation; watts required by battery / average number of hours the sun stays up from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm in your area and for each season or climat = Solar Panel.
⇒ watts / hrs of sunlight = solar panel.
our values:
watts required = 1200.
average hours of sunlight in my area = 4 hrs.
⇒ 1200 / 4 = 300 watts solar panel.
Note:
In this case if you could get a 300 watts solar panel you can use two 150 watts solar panels.
A list of Solar Panels and thier ratings
- > 3 Watts : 6 Volts Solar Panel
- > 100 Watts : 20 Volts Solar Panel
- > 250 Watts : 30 Volts Solar Panel
A simple house hold solar electricity set up
Note:
If there be any question do make sure to contact us