Solar Power Your Home for Dummies

From Solar Power Your Home For Dummies by Rik DeGunther

Deciding to switch your home to solar power involves some research. Check the energy efficiency of your home, including energy consumption and power draw of your appliances. Do some investigative browsing about the technical aspects of solar power, such as tax incentives, and where to find solar- power consumer goods.

How to Find the Power Consumption of Your Appliances

Power, the rate at which energy is being consumed, is specified in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW — kilo- means 1,000). You can determine the power consumption of your appliances in three ways:

Look on the label for the watts rating.
Look up the device on a power consumption chart.
Purchase an electricity usage meter (such as the Kill-a-Watt) from a hardware store or online.

Your HVAC system, which is generally the biggest power-gobbling appliance in the house, should be labeled clearly with its power draw in horsepower (HP) or British thermal units (Btus); 1 HP = 750 W, and 3,400 Btus = 1 kW.

How Much Power Typical Appliances Draw

Before you solar power your home, audit your appliances to see how much energy they draw. Here are estimated energy requirements for common household appliances and electronics:

Appliance	Power Draw (Watts)
Really loud guitar	6,000 W
Clothes dryer	5,000 W and up (Use a clothesline!)
Air conditioner	2,000 W
Microwave	1,500 W (on for short durations, so energy consumption is small)
Pool pump	1,000 W or more (6 kWh per day, typically)
Home entertainment center	1,000 W
Electric blanket	400 W
Computer and monitor	200 W
27" TV	170 W
Refrigerator (older model)	125 W (around 3.0 kWh/day)
Refrigerator (new, energy efficient model)	46 W (around 1.1 kWh/day)

How to Calculate Energy Consumption

One of the steps to making your home run on solar power is to know how much energy your appliances and electronics require. Energy is the amount of work needed to get a job done. This can be specified in watt-hours (Wh) or kilowatt-hours (kWh). Here’s how to calculate energy consumption:

Daily energy consumption of an appliance: Multiply wattage by hours used per day. For instance, a 100 W light bulb on for six hours draws 600 Wh, or 0.6 kWh.
*Total household energy use (in kWh/month): Make a list, with each appliance calculated like this:

Watts × hours/day × days/month ÷ 1,000

The total should match your monthly electric power bill.

Web Sites for Solar-Power Consumer Goods

If you've decided to buy solar-powered consumer goods, kudos to you! There are plenty of Web sites that sell solar goods — here are a few to get you started:

Web Sites for Technical Information on Solar Power

If you need technical information for developing your solar power projects, there are plenty of Web sites to turn to. Solar power is a topic that touches on lots of areas; you'll need to be aware of technical issues regarding research and development, state and federal regulations, and tax incentives: