There is so much hype of living "green" or environmentally friendly, but the only thing that discourages people, the costs of going green. I know because it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think green.

I have some problems for the exploration of various sources of green energy alternatives and concluded that it might not be as expensive as we think of first.

Among the various possibilities, the solar panels seemed our best option. And maybe not for youthough.

Reasons why I prefer the solar system:

Not as strong as the wind turbines
Easily dispensed
Easily transferable, which is a bonus when you are on a farm
Our climate is perfect for them

A few drawbacks:

The initial outlay cost
The room will be filled (including batteries)

First of all, we want to see what comes out of a solar panel system is.

It can be basically divided into four parts, namely:

1) the solar industryPanels
2) Solar controllers
3) Batteries – Storage
4) Inverter – DC to AC inverter

Solar Panels

In simple terms, the plates that take the sun and convert it into electrical energy will be. You are rated in watts in Celsius degrees, what the solar panels is the amount of power to the 25 expected to produce an intensity of sunlight 1000W / meter. You might ask, "What?" at that stage.

In different areas of South Africa,average amount of sunshine per day varies. The media in South Africa is 8.5 hours per day. (It is interesting, in London is 3.8, which is 6.4 in Rome and New York is 6.9). South Africa has the highest average number of hours of sunshine per day throughout the world. This makes it ideal for using solar panels.

If you take a 80 watt panel, it means that it will generate on average 680 hours watt (Wh) per day during the year.

Solar panels can be connected to increase the voltage or current can be. A normalterminal voltage of the panel is designed 17-22 volts, but the use of a controller controls up to 13 volts. The reason is that the safety voltage charging a 13-14 volt.

Solar controller

As already mentioned, the solar panels produce 17-22 volts. This is much more than the safe range of 13-14 volts, you can charge a battery. To check this, we use a regulatory calendar, the fallCurrent produces a stable voltage.

Using batteries, you are sensitive to overload and under a certain tension. The controller does not help recharge the battery to run flat or pasta.

Solar regulators are rated by the amount of electricity you can get the solar panels.

The regulatory authority has the maximum current that a solar panel can handle. This can take up to 25% more than the rated current of the panel. So ifThey have a solar system of 100 W with 5.8 A current rating you want to use a controller 7.54. I am to be with the 30% safe.

Batteries

Once the sun converts light into electricity, we must somehow save. To this end, we are using deep cycle batteries. These are the same as normal car batteries, but with some differences. They will be released over a longer period and can be charged and over and over and over again.Car batteries are designed to provide a large amount of energy in no time.

To get the most out of your deep cycle battery, you should not leave the discharge to below 50% of its capacity. Releasing less than 50%, reduces battery life.

These batteries are rated in amp hours (Ah) and contains a stream in hours. This is the amount of power that have a certain number of hours.

A 100 Ah pasta with 100 hoursVote provides more than 100 Ah 100 hours. This is 1A per hour for 100 hours. This can equate to 5A per hour for 20 hours.

Inverter

Now that we have the power in batteries, we need a way to use it in our daily lives. The batteries can provide electricity stored direct current (DC). Our everyday devices in home use alternating current (AC). We need a way to convert AC to DC, so you can use them.

This iswhere the inverter comes into play. What is recommended is the sine wave inverter, AC power, which is virtually identical to the power that we have established by Eskom available.

The inverters are able to provide the basis to the amount of alternating current continually assessed.

Now that I explained all of the above, you may have a better understanding of what is a solar power system are having. Let's take a look, how you can do to change the size of your installation needs.

Equipment and PowerU.S.

The first thing you do is also the most cumbersome. You must determine the amount of electricity you use and for how long. It 's easy, just write how many watts (W), a device uses, and how many hours per day on average you. This gives you a certain amount of W per day.

Here's an example:

5 x 60W = 300W globes works 8 hours a day every day = 2400 Wh

1 x 300W = 300W TV work 2 hours a day every day = 600Wh

1 x 250W = 250W refrigerator runs 24 hours a day every day = 6000 Wh

1 x 800W = 800W washing machine once a week for 2 hours = 228 Wh

That is, we use a total of 9,228 Wh per day

Power Inverter size

To determine the size of the drive is required is necessary to go to determine the total power in watts (W) of the equipment.

The above example only:

Light Globe – 5 x 60W = 300W

TV = 300W

Refrigerator =250W

Washing machine = 800W

= 1650W total power demand. This means that when all devices are turned on at the same time, there will 1650W. They will also add about 50% of the buffer. So if you ever run a hair dryer at the same time, the system will have power in reserve to run it. So a 2500W inverter for that perfect and leaves you with plenty of buffer. Remember that this calculation is on devices running at the same time. From planning (ie use ofor, hair dryer or iron kettle at a time, but not all at once), you can reduce the amount of energy required, bringing the cost of the solar system.

The number of solar collectors and their evaluations

Total electricity consumption is 9228 Wh Now you need every day, on average, to know how many hours of sunlight in your region. I have many sites that detail, so that should a problem be found. We work about 7 hours. This means 9228Wh / = 7h1318.30W. Add about 20% for a buffer and for possible inefficiencies in the dishes, and you'll end up with a commitment to produce 1576W of power per day.

It is necessary that all its panels enough 1576W add any additional comments. So if you wanted to obtain panels of 140W, you will receive 12 of them, because 12 x 140 W or 24 x 70W = 1680W = 1680 W.

How many batteries?

This depends on the panel you are using. The panels from 140W to produce a current of 7.7A. So if you have 12of them, without the full current 92.4 A. The current also there as well for about 7 hours a day (the amount of sunlight a day). That is, there are 646.8 Ah per day, which must be saved.

If you look at 102AH batteries, they should be allowed no more than 50% relief. This leaves us with about 50 Ah. Therefore, make up 646.8 Ah per day we will need at least 13 batteries.

Regulator that size?

The last thing to consider is the solarRegulator. A panel generates 140W 7.7A of current. There will be a total of 92.4 amps. This means that at least 4 x 30A regulator.

Now the whole system:

12x 140W solar modules
4 x 30A solar controller
13x 102AH batteries
1x 1500W inverter