Solar panels cost per watt are good to determine by using various factors.
We can calculate what the cost per watt is if we have the cost of a specific solar panel.
If you pay 400 bugs for a panel that produces 250-watt peak you do the simple calculation. Divide 400 into 250 and you get 400/250 = 1, 6 bugs per watt.
To determine the solar panel cost per watt you have to consider more. You have to take into consideration the cost of the whole solar system in use or what you want to install.
You have to take into consideration the amount of electricity that you use per month. Divide this monthly amount by 30 to determine the watts that you need per day.
To calculate your solar panels cost per watt you have to determine the size of your inverter. Also, determine the size and amount of batteries that you need as a backup for your complete solar system.
Include the charge controller and you get a “fixed cost” of all the equipment that you need. Then you get a complete picture of your solar panels per watt cost.
The final cost to take into account then is the amount and size of solar panels that you want to install.
Are you going to be completely off the grid and install a big backup system? This will amount to plenty of batteries.
You could be grid-tied where you can push excessive energy back into the grid and you do not need backup batteries.
That means that you need a much smaller outlay with less fixed cost. This will have a positive influence on the cost of your solar panels per watt.
It is also an option to go grid-tied, but have a smaller amount of backup batteries. This is for rare occasions where the sun does not shine and the grid does not provide electricity. It could be due to a possible emergency.
The type of solar panels that you are going to use must also be into considered. Will it be a thin film, polycrystalline, or will it be monocrystalline?
Now we can have a look at the characteristics of each solar panel. The material used, how long it will last( which can be 30 years and longer), and the efficiency thereof.
Couple a certain cost factor to each of these panels to get solar panels cost per watt.
Once installed, we can see the controller, inverter, and batteries as a fixed cost. We are not going to spend a lot of money on in the future.
An exception exists with the batteries, though. We have to replace it after several years.
We then only have to calculate the direct cost of solar panels cost per watt . Divide the cost of the panel into the peak watts that the solar panel delivers.
The peak wattage of a solar panel is the watts produced at noon when the sun is perpendicular to the panel.
This is if there are no clouds or other objects that block the sun from shining on the solar panel.
In a conclusion, we do have a fair idea of the solar panels cost per watt.
It gives us a better sign of what to buy and to see if we are on par with the cost of electricity provided by fossil fuels.
The cost of crystalline solar panels has dropped from $76.77 in 1977 to an astonishing close to $1 per watt in 2017.
The feeling is that soon, with the amount of research, solar panels will become more efficient.
Solar energy will become a more than fair provider of electricity. Solar panels cost per watt will be reasonable and affordable. The cost will be less by far than electricity provided by fossil fuels.
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