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Solar and storage calculators
A solar system is sized against what a building actually uses, and the array is the least constrained part of it. The inverter's voltage window, the roof's shape and the way consumption falls across a day decide more about the result than the panel count does.
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How solar and storage is measured
Kilowatts peak for the array, panels per string against an inverter's voltage range at temperature, kilowatt-hours of usable storage against a daily demand, and amperes for the DC cabling. Payback is then a financial calculation on a generation figure rather than a technical one.
Solar & Energy Storage11
- Battery Backup Runtime Calculator
- Battery Bank Sizing Calculator
- Off-Grid Autonomy Calculator
- Solar Array Row Spacing and Shading Pitch Calculator
- Solar Inverter Sizing Calculator
- Solar Panel Array Sizing Calculator
- Solar Panel PV Wire Sizing Calculator
- Solar Panel Roof Mount Wind Uplift Ballast Calculator
- Solar PV String Sizing Calculator
- Solar Water Heater Collector Size Calculator
- Solar Water Heater Savings Calculator
What gets left off a solar and storage order
- Temperature. A string's open-circuit voltage rises as it gets colder, and the cold morning is what the inverter has to survive.
- Usable capacity versus nameplate capacity in a battery, which is a depth-of-discharge figure and not a marketing one.
- The mounting: ballast, uplift and the roof's ability to carry both, which is a structural question rather than an electrical one.
- Self-consumption. Exported energy is usually worth a fraction of what it displaces, so when the building uses power matters as much as how much.
Comparisons4
Two ways of doing the same work, weighed against each other.