200W Solar Panels – The modern world has different situations and different problems, we may not be facing the same issues as our ancestors but we most certainly have a fair share of concerns of our own. Today, we are facing different issues like our dependency on modern gadgets and our constant need for electricity. Due to our high dependency on electricity, there is a constant rise in the cost of electricity. Therefore, we are already looking for another alternative that fulfils our needs while being more suited for our pockets.
In order to decrease our dependency on traditional ways of generating electricity, we have slowly started shifting towards renewable energy sources. One of the best options for renewable energy is solar energy. It is a fact that the sun is a constant source of energy, using the right kind of solar panels we generate electricity. Not only this is good for our pockets but it is also a great way to save the environment. There are many different kinds of solar panels, they are used to generate electricity directly from sunlight. There are many different kinds of solar panels such as 200W solar panels, 300W solar panels or even 6.6kW solar panels.
One of the most crucial factors to be considered when comparing different solar panels for your solar system is the power rating of the solar panel. This is commonly referred to as wattage. Out of many different wattage spectra of solar panels available, today are 200W solar panels. It is most certainly on the lower end of the spectrum. Depending on the electricity usage and solar project that you have, you have to choose between different solar panels and 200W solar panels may be really the best option for you depending on your usage.
Most commonly in Australia today, solar panels that are installed for your solar system both commercial and residential are ranging between 250 to 365 watts per panel. That being said, there are many people who do consider having solar panels with the lower or higher than the above mentioned range depending on the usage that they have. It is comparatively easy to determine if 200W solar panels are actually the right choice for you or not. You only have to check what are the different options for solar panels to choose from and how much energy would a 200W solar panel would produce and would that be enough for you.
Here is the list that you could you to determine if 200W solar panels are the right choice for you:
Different options for 200W solar panel kit:
Even though these solar panels still fall in the range of averagely most used panels, they are still not quite often provided by many solar companies and installers for ground mounted or rooftop mounted installation; however, you can easily get these 200W solar panel kits for your DIY solar projects.
There are many different solar companies and installers in Australia such as Sunfeeds Solar who provides 200W solar panels to purchase. Most commonly these 200W solar panels are two 100W solar panels unified as a solar kit.
These are often best suited and used for DIY solar projects, portable solar projects and generating power for boats and RVs.
How many 200W solar panels be required?
As the name suggests, 200W solar panels are rated to produce 200 watts of power; however, the actual power produced by your solar panels may vary depending on a number of factors. Such as geographic location, the tilt of your panels and shading can most certainly affect the power produced too.
As mentioned earlier, the 200W solar panels are simply two 100W solar panels unified together to produce a total of 200 watts of power. It is slightly below what generally is considered as standard in the residential solar panel markets and it is true that these panels will produce less power when compared to other solar panels which are more suited for residential solar systems.
The number of solar panels that you will install for your solar system depends on a number of things. The amount of required electricity you want to generate is one of the most crucial elements in terms of determining the number of solar panels and the close second is the available space that you have for your solar panels to be installed.
So, here is a detailed explanation of how many 200W solar panels will be required for your house depending on the size of the solar system:
- 2kW solar system:
It will produce 2820 on an average annual kWh and it will require at least 10 200W solar panels.
- 5kW solar system:
It will produce 7050 on an average annual kWh and it will require at least 25 200W solar panels.
It will produce 8460 on an average annual kWh and it will require at least 30 200W solar panels.
- 7kW solar system:
It will produce 9870 on an average annual kWh and it will require at least 35 200W solar panels.
Note:
Here we are assuming the production ratio of 1.41.
When you are considering a solar system for your house and you decide to go with 200W solar panels and you are only able to use 10 solar panels, you will end up producing nearly 300 kilowatts hours of electricity. This is far below how much an average household of a single family would require.
Therefore, in order to produce any significant energy for your house, you will require to install at least 30 200W solar panels. This will produce enough electricity to significantly offset or eliminate your electric bill with a solar system. If you are using less than later solar panels, then you will most probably be paying the electric bill.
If you are considering installing 25 to 35-watt solar panels, then you have to consider that how much space these panels are going to occupy. A higher number of solar panels will require significantly more space. Here is the list of estimated spaces required for solar energy produced using only 200W solar panels for your home or business.
For the purposes of calculation, we are going to measure the space based on solar panels that are having the size of 16 square feet or 8 by 4 as the 200W solar panel’s average size:
- 2 kW solar system:
It will require at least 10 200W solar panels, therefore, the estimated space required would be nearly 160 square feet.
- 5 kW solar system:
It will require at least 25 200W solar panels, therefore, the estimated space required would be nearly 400 square feet.
- 6 kW solar system:
It will require at least 30 200W solar panels, therefore, the estimated space required would be nearly 480 square feet.
- 7 kW solar system:
It will require at least 35 200W solar panels, therefore, the estimated space required would be nearly 560 square feet.
This clearly means if you are looking to cover all of your electricity requirements and only use the 200W solar panels then you must prepare to install a really large number of solar panels at your place. This in return for sure requires a huge space available for your solar panel installation. Clearly, most of us will not be having enough space available on our roof to install the solar systems with these many solar panels. That will leave you with only ground mounted solar panel systems and it would be most likely the only way to accommodate these many solar panels for your house or business.
What will run on a 200W solar panel?
As we have discussed above, it is quite evident that 200W solar panels would not be the ideal choice for people who are considering solar systems for a large solar system such as a 5 kW or 6 kW solar system. But these panels can turn out to be very effective and useful for many solar projects.
If you are one of those people who are working on an off-grid solar project designed to generate enough power to cover needs for a tiny home or a solar shed. In such a case, a 200W solar panel would most certainly become an ideal choice to cover your energy needs.
As these solar panels are smaller and way more compact in size compared to their other counterparts, it makes them very easily moveable and handy. This makes it an ideal choice for camping and RV trips for some on-the-go power from the sun.
Another less obvious case for using these solar panels for your solar system would be when you are having an unlimited amount of space or some really large space available. In that case, you can easily install these solar panels to meet your electrical requirements.
There are cases, where large scale commercial or utility installation may avoid high wattage panels because these solar panels are available at a comparatively very cheaper price. Therefore, using more these solar panels may occupy their free space but that will most certainly save a huge upfront cost for buying or installation of these solar projects.
That being said, there are many people with the available space for installing these solar panels to cover their entire electrical need and even though they are comparatively cheaper. There are many people who would not be considering these solar panels for their home because most solar companies and installers do not seem to carry more than 200W solar panels for their grid tied installation.
Should I consider 200W solar panels for my solar installation?
If the sole purpose behind the installation of solar panels for you is to maximize the savings on your electricity bills then 200W solar panels may not be the right choice for you. In order to cover most of your electricity requirements, you may require solar panels with a capacity of producing 250 watts of power or more.
So in order to answer the question that if not 200 watts then what would the ideal power rating that you should take for your solar system, you will require to understand a number of factors. It entirely depends on the specific of your solar system project.
If you are having the ideal roof for solar panels, sufficient space for your solar panel’s installation or considering a ground mounted solar system, panels with standard efficiencies and watts are most likely to meet your electricity needs.
On the other hand, if you are having a very limited roof space or prefer to install fewer panels overall, then the best choice would be high wattage, high-efficiency panels such as some of the solar panels commonly used by Sunfeeds solar are the best way to go.
It is obvious that having larger and high watts creating solar panels would cost more upfront, but they will enable you to generate way higher electricity and as a result savings on your electricity bills will be way higher too and you may not even require to pay any electricity bills thanks to the high power generation for next 25 to 30 years.
To sum it up, it is obvious that 200W solar panels can fulfil the electricity requirements giving enough space and number of panels available. And in doing so, you will be able to save some upfront cost of installation of the solar system for your home or business; however, it may struggle to fulfil the daily needs of your electricity if you are not able to install enough solar panels. There would be other alternatives out there which would be more suited depending on the requirements and needs of your electricity.
Additionally, 200W solar panels could be really useful when it comes to installing these panels at remote places. As they are really handy, lightweight, small in size so overall very handy. This makes them the perfect choice for camping, RVs, boats or even small single families to generate electricity as well as for small solar projects.
