Area Required For Solar Panels

Area required for solar pv power plants.

Area required for solar panels.

In other terms we can say that for each 1 kw of solar panels you need 100 sqft of an area on average. When we use thin film technology a 1mw plant will require an average of 4 5 to 5 acres of land. The area required by thin film panels is about 50 more than that for the crystalline as the latter are about 50 more efficient than the former. Rooftop plants weigh 30 60 kgs m 2 66 130 lb m2 which is too heavy for asbestos roofed sheds.

1 kw of solar panels require approximately 100 sqft or 10 sqm when used on rooftops and in small ground mounted installations. You can calculate how many solar panels you need by multiplying your household s hourly energy requirement by the peak sunlight hours for your area and dividing that by a panel s wattage. The average residential solar installation in the us is about 20 solar panels which at 15 square feet each adds up to 300 square feet for the entire solar array a fancy word for the group of solar panels. However you can use the same procedure to estimate how many are needed.

Thus a 1 mw solar power plant with crystalline panels about 18 efficiency will require about 4 acres while the same plant with thin film technology 12 efficiency will require about 6 acres. The saharandesert is 9 064 958 square kilometers or 18 times the total required area to fuel the world. By another measure the unpopulated area of the sahara desert is over 9 million km which if covered with solar panels would provide 630 terawatts total power. You have a rough estimate of the space required by the solar panels of your system.

However this is a rough estimate as space can also be influenced by the efficiency of the panels and technology. Total area 1 0 18 5 56 m 2. On the other hand if they are 330w panels only 21 are needed. Shadows falling on the panels not only reduce power output but also damage the panel.

I you are going to install all the panels in one line you would need a space of approximately 1 m x 5 56 m each panel having a size of 1 m x 0 556 m on your rooftop. Solar shingles are smaller than panels and their wattage is lower as a result. Rooftop solar pv plants require about 100 sq ft 10 sqm of shade free roof area per kw of plant capacity. For example if the amount of power needed is 5 000 watts and each shingle is rated at 50w you need 100.

Use a low wattage 150w and high wattage 370w example to establish a range ex.