How to calculate size of a solar panel?

It is always a tough task to find the accurate information about the product that we want use, with solar panels it is always difficult to get the actual size (dimensions) of a solar panel and to understand them properly in accordance with the utility space.

Size of Solar Panels

A solar panel is a big to medium size electrical component which generally requires two to four feet of space for a single solar panel. Usually, the space required for the installation of solar panels must be shadow free, and must receive the maximum amount of sunlight throughout the day.

1 inch equals to 26 mm, and 12 inch equals to 1 ft. Now, you should know about the different solar panel dimensions. For example, if you want to know the size of a 550W solar panel, then its size is 2278 x 1133 mm. First, you need to convert mm to inch 2278/26 = 87.61 inch, then you need to convert inch to feet, 87.61/12 = 7.30 ft. This is the height of a solar panel. Similarly, you will calculate the width of solar panels.

Dimensions of Solar Panels

The dimensions that are used to calculate the size that is require to install the solar panels is mm (Millimetre) which is then converted into cm (Centimetre). The conversion is done just for the consumers to make them understand the size chart for the required space. *(The size is calculated in mms is due to the coverage of the smallest possible area of the roof tops to generate the maximum amount of solar power from that area.)

To understand the size of solar panels and visualize it on the roof top area, usually two types of solar panels are required, 12 V (Volt) solar panel and 24 V solar panel. A 12 V solar panel is available in monocrystalline technology which comes in 125 W (Watt) and 225 W, and the 24 V solar panel is available in PERC Half Cut Solar Cell technology which comes in 445 W and 550 W of power output.

Basic Calculation

Given below is the basic formula to calculate and understand the size of solar panels and to further visualise the size of solar panels on the available space of the roof tops.

A size of 55W solar panel is xxxxx * xxxx * xxxx mm or xxxx * xxxx * xxxx ft. = xxxx sq. ft.

A size of 225W solar panel is xxxxx * xxxx * xxxx mm or xxxx * xxxx * xxxx ft. = xxxx sq. ft.

A size of 445W solar panel is xxxxx * xxxx * xxxx mm or xxxx * xxxx * xxxx ft. = xxxx sq. ft.

A size of 550W solar panel is xxxxx * xxxx * xxxx mm or xxxx * xxxx * xxxx ft. = xxxx sq. ft.

* (mm. justifies millimetre ft. justifies foot / feet sq. ft. justifies square per foot / feet) *

Now, the main question that arise at this point is; How much space is required for the installation of a 1 kW (Kilowatt) solar panel?

The answer to that is, when a 24 V solar panel is selected for 1 kW power generation category, then two solar panels will be installed to complete the solar system, for which the required area will be xxxxx sq. ft.

For a 12 V solar panel in 1kW power generation category, then four solar panels will be installed to complete the solar system, for which the required area will be xxxxx sq. ft.

*(The installation space must be shadow free)

Furthermore, you can calculate the area required for the installation of a solar panel of any category such as 2 kW, 3 kW, 4 kW, 5 kW, 10 kW or higher. Given below is a pre calculated table with the size number of the solar panels for 1 kW category or higher - 

Conclusion

With the availability of all the services related to solar panels, Loom Solar has started providing ‘Site Survey’ service, where an engineer will be assigned to perform site inspection to install the solar panel. Book your site survey with Loom Solar to know about your roof top space and its utility features.