Surface Area Of Solar Panel

Solar panels are installed in arrays with the number of panels varying depending on the roof area available and the amount of power you wish to generate.

Surface area of solar panel. Sunpower panels are 61 3 inches by 41 2 inches. Typical residential solar panel dimensions today are about 65 inches by 39 inches or 5 4 feet by 3 25 feet with some variation among manufacturers. Another way is to multiply the household s hourly energy requirement by the peak sunlight hours for the area. Lets assume the solar panels have 20 efficiency so the energy produced is 200 watt m 2.

The number of solar panels of the size used in the calculation will theoretically meet that energy demand during a sunny day. The number of solar cells on one panel is directly related to its length. Then divide that answer by the wattage of the solar panel intended to be used. So the total area required is 30 000 200 150 m 2.

Since spacecraft have to be small this limits the amount of power that can be produced. To figure out what the total surface area is simply multiply the length and width of the solar panel by each other. More exposed surface area means more electricity can be converted from light energy from the sun. Each individual panel usually has an area of 1 3 1 7m2 with 1 6m the most common size.

If an average solar panel measures at 65 inches by 39 inches how does that translate to a full sized rooftop solar panel system. 72 cell commercial solar panels are approximately 13 inches longer than 60 cell residential panels.