Rules of thumb for sizing your solar panels
Posted by Laird on Aug 4, 2008
Rules of thumb for sizing solar panels
Whilst each solar hot water system should be designed properly, it is helpful to have a method for estimating the size of the system components. 1sqm per person - This means for each person in the household, there should be 1 square metre of flat plate solar panel area. This rule assumes a south-facing pitched roof.
50Litres/sqm - For each square metre of solar panel area, there should be around 50 Litres of hot water storage in your hot water cylinder.
Example
Lets say there a 4 people in your house. You would want 2 solar panels of 2sqm each (2m x 1m). To suit this system, there should be around 200 Litres in your hot water cylinder at least.
