How much electricity does a common hosehold consume? and how do we choose a solar pannel?

Question

Some friends are interested in buying solar pannels for thier house which is a simple one with the basic necissities like comp, fridge e.t.c. Which type of solar pannels should they buy and also what mesurment is used in measuring electricity. is the consumption measured in Volts or Watts and are the solar pannels bought according to watts or Volts.

Please help.

Some sites selling solar pannels would be helpfull too.

Answer 1

Depends on the number of family members and usage patterns.

Answer 2

My average household comsumption is 1000 kWh/month (i.e. 1 MWh/month).

Answer 3

Solar Panels are a looser if you are looking at impacting your overall home power consumption.  The cost per watt is absurd, and the efficiency (one Sq, yard of summer sun equals about 1000 watts), is less than 10 %.  A square yard (36" x 36") panel will cost a thousand or more dollars and yeild only about 100 wats of 12 vdc power.  

New technologies are creeping up that are in the 50% effeciency range at a way lower cost per square foot. Wait for them.   Solar water heaters are another matter... they are a GOOD investment now.

Answer 4

I would contact a local solar vendor who would both provide the equipent AND install it.   They will know about local rebates, how your electric company might reimburse for extra electricity generated, and so forth.

Energy consumption is measured in kilowatt hours.  Solar panels are rated in watts.   Every hour that a panel generates a watt you get a watt-hour.   Every 1000 watt-hours equals a kilowatt hour (kWh).

You're friends will likely need solar panels, a roof rack system, wires, inverters (to make the power work with their existing electric system) and perhaps a monitoring system depending on what your electric company requires.  

Please realize that these systems can be quite expensive.  In many places, the equipment does not pay for itself within its lifetime.   But with rebates, tax credits, and so forth, a system just might be able to pay for itself in 15 years.  Maybe.   And it will likely cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

I've put a couple of links below to places where you can find solar vendors.

Good luck.