Where Does Your Power Go?

It’s estimated that 40% of the average Australian household’s power is used between both heating and cooling throughout the year; easily the biggest portion of energy usage. Air conditioning is especially power-hungry, especially when fighting the heat of the Australian summer.

As for the other 60%, roughly 23% of power is used on water heating, 14% on appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine, 8% on refrigeration, 7% on lighting, 5% on cooking, and the remaining 3% on standby power – things like the TV or ‘sleeping’ computers.

It’s possible to run your entire house on solar power, even if you use a lot of power, but your roof size/shape or currently installed electrics may stand in the way of it – it’s important to speak with a knowledgeable specialist about how much you can expect to run from solar alone.

Your Home Energy Usage

There are countless variables in how much power a home uses. Things like the number of people living in a house will have a great impact, along with the power efficiency of appliances and how often (and how) they’re used. On average, an Australian household uses in the region of 18 KiloWatts (kWh) of energy per day. Add it all up and that’s about 5,600 KiloWatts a year. Homes with children typically consume around 20 kWh of power per day, compared to single adults who use around 10 kWh per day.

The amount of power you use comes down to what your home activities are. With the current Coronavirus pandemic in motion, working from home is having an effect on home power usage. With extra screens, computers and aircon running throughout the day, especially during the warmer months, home power bills are going up. Since working from home is becoming a more normal, and in some cases expected thing, there has never been a better time to go solar.

Solar Power Production

In order to get the right solar system for your home, it’s important to consider how much power you use, and how much you would need from a system. While some are happy to chip away at power bills with a small, cost-effective solar system, others want to go ‘full green’ and rely on solar power to power their home.

Right now, solar panels are more efficient than ever, as well as cheaper than ever (roughly 90% cheaper than they were in 2010!). You can buy a system today and have it pay for itself in as little as 2 years, and almost always within 5 years.

Typically, 20-28 panels will cover the majority of an average home’s power usage, and send some back to the grid to help pay for your already-lower power bills.

The time really is now! Get in touch with our great Australian team today and we’ll get the ball rolling on the cheaper summer power bill you’ll have seen in years!

Power Inverter

The inverter is a crucial component of any solar power system. Without the inverter, the power generated by the solar panels cannot be used. An inverter allows solar power to be converted from DC, which is what the panels produce while collecting sunlight, into AC, which is what powers most homes and businesses across Australia.

Without an inverter, you’re going to be generating plenty of solar energy that you can store (if you have a battery system), but can’t actually use. For this reason, the inverter is considered one of the key components in any system, even being referred to as the ‘gateway’ of the solar system, so to speak.

Our team will have choices of inverters for you, all of which we are well acquainted with, and come highly recommended.

Solar Panels

Likely the most ‘famous’ component of a solar electric system,  solar panels comes in a range of sizes, power outputs and even shapes. Typically, they’re made with a glass front, polymer backing, aluminium, and use silicon crystal cells (photovoltaic cells) to generate electricity.

In most cases, solar panels are installed on the rooftops of homes and are what does the work of turning sunlight into (almost) usable power. Different panels produce different amounts of power; they get given ratings, which is based on how efficient they are under ‘perfect circumstances’, and is essentially based how much power they can output. It can vary massively, from as little as 10 Watts, right up to 300 Watts per panels and beyond.

A typical Australian household usually requires between 20-28 panels for an efficient and worthwhile system. Smaller systems will still work great, but may not produce enough power for larger appliances.

Breaker Box

While not exclusive to solar power, breaker box (or panel box), is an important part of your solar system. All the power your solar system is producing will be running through this panel before being used by your home or business.

The amperage of your main breaker switch inside this panel box is important to note, and will essentially dictate the system you can have installed.  A typical breaker box would usually be somewhere between 100 and 225 amps; most are either 100 or 200 amps.

Generally speaking, a 100 amp panel box will allow for a 4.25kW system – a smaller, but still capably-sized setup. A 200 amp panel box can support a system size up to around 12 kW, which will give a much higher electricity output, and will cut your power bills noticeably and instantly.

Solar Battery

At night, or if the sky is overcast with thick cloud, solar power cannot be produced – which means it cannot be used. In locations where thick cloud is common, batteries are added to solar power systems so that when no power can be produced, there is still electricity available for the house.

Batteries are an expensive addition to a solar system, but are essential if you want to go ‘off-grid’ or be entirely reliant upon solar energy to power your home. Here in Australia, we’re blessed with plenty of sun year round, making batteries less commonly used – certainly in a standard setup.

Charge Controller

Also known as a charge regulator, the charge controller prevents batteries from becoming overcharged. When a battery becomes overcharged it can damage the energy storage system, so when a charge controller detects a battery is full it diverts power elsewhere. This technology is seen through countless consumer electronics – mobile phones, laptops – and is essential is maintaining the lifespan of your solar battery.

With the battery being much bigger than any ‘standard’ battery, anything going wrong poses more danger and potential costs, which is why battery safety technology in solar batteries is at an all time high.