SOLAR ENERGY

for South Africans

South Africa is blessed with a warm, sunny climate - but cursed with a shortage of electricity.
Check out this article to find out how and what you need to harness the power of the Sun to ease the impact of Load Shedding.

SOLAR PANELS

Solar Panels, also known as PV Panels, work by converting the Sun's energy into electricity. The amount of energy produced is determined by the size and efficiency of the panel.

This means that selecting the right panel for your needs is a crucial first step in adding solar energy to your home. In order to find out how much solar energy you need follow the steps below:

IN ORDER TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH SOLAR ENERGY YOU NEED FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW

• 1Make a list of how many Watts each appliance you would like to run on Solar Electricity uses.
• 2For each appliance on the list, multiply the Watts used by the number of hours you need the appliance to run for. This gives you your usage in Watt Hours.
• 3Add up the number of Watt Hours for each Appliance to work out the total number of Watts you need.
• 4Next, calculate how many hours of sunlight per day your panels will receive in their intended location.

• 5The final step is to divide the total Watt Hours of energy you require by the number of hours of sunlight your panels will receive. The figure produced equates to the size of the panel you need measured in Watts.

Total Watt Hours required = 2000 Watts

Total Panel Sunlight = 6.2 hours

USING SOLAR POWER

INVERTERS EXPLAINED

In order to fully take advantage of a Solar Panel you will need an electronic device called a Power Inverter or Sine Inverter (Inverter for short).

The inverter performs a crucial function within any solar power system as it converts the DC current generated by the solar panel and/or battery to AC current that your appliances run on. Without an inverter things like your television or decoder would not be able to run on solar power.

The capabilities of an inverter are measured by the number of Watts it is capable of producing consistently to power appliances. For example, a 32" LED Television needs a very low 50 Watts, whereas a power-hungry Plasma Television of the same size needs 240 Watts to operate.

This means that the right combination of Solar Panels & Inverter needs to be selected for your specific needs - so that you are able to power everything that you need to.

STORING THE SUN'S ENERGY

BATTERIES

One of the main challenges with solar energy is keeping the lights on when the Sun goes down.

The way to do this is to use your Solar Panel to charge a battery bank which in turn connects to the inverter to power your appliances