An average home in the US would require approximately 19-23 solar panels. It is based on the average usage of electricity, which is 877 kWh. If you want to install 19-23 solar panels, it will cost you around $13,000 - $16,000. On the face of it, this seems like a considerable investment, but it also has numerous cost-saving benefits attached to it over time.

If you wish to find out how many solar panels are essential to power your house, there are many things to contemplate. After taking all that into account, the math becomes quite simple. We will make this assessment easier for you by explaining its various aspects.

Factors to evaluate how many solar panels are ideal for your house

Energy usage

If you want to know how many solar panels you need, it will be of great help if you know the amount of electricity you use annually, monthly, and daily, on average. Average energy usage varies from house to house. It depends on things like the total number of people in the home and the total number of electrical appliances.

You can check your previous year's bills to determine the total amount of electricity you use during all the seasons. After getting the digits, you will know the amount of solar power you need to cover your requirements. On average, an American home uses around 10649 kWh of energy annually. If you calculate, you will realize that it comes down to 29kWh daily.

Sunlight

If you live in an area that receives less sunlight, you will need more solar panels than the cities that receive more sunlight. Only then will it help you cover the electricity bills. Generally, in the United States, southwestern towns and states receive the most sunlight, and the northeastern areas receive the least.

Solar panels

Specific solar panels have the potential of producing a considerable amount of energy individually. It also depends on factors like sunlight and the amount of shade covering the roof. This number is the power rating, and we measure it in watts.

The computation

Now that we have all the parameters in mind, we can estimate the total number of solar panels you will need for your home. Here is an example.

• Your house receives four hours of sunlight daily, and you just purchased solar panels with a 325W output. In this situation, each solar panel will generate around 1.3kWh daily. If your energy usage is according to the 29kWh daily average, you will require around 23 solar panels with a 325W output to power your house.

Key benefits

So, these were all the basic things that you need to know to calculate the ideal number of solar panels for your home. It might seem that these things cost a lot, but you can always save money while investing in them.

For example, you can rent a solar panel if you can't afford to purchase it. Also, the federal government provides a tax credit for new solar installations. Other than that, many governments also provide incentive programs. But a key problem is that most solar panels are made in China. How can we bring solar panel production back to America?