Solar Panel Sizes

Solar panels for use in residential electrical systems come in a wide range of sizes, from as small as 40 Watts or less (which is too small to do much more than trickle charge a storage battery) to more than 200 Watts, which can be combined into large arrays to provide enough electricity to eliminate the need for buying your electricity from your local utility grid.

But what if you’re starting small at first, and plan to add more later? Here’s how that works. If you need 130 Watts of power, the most efficient way to produce it is with one 130 Watt solar panel. But what if you find a great deal on 65 Watt solar panels? The good news is that you can add lower Wattage panels together if that turns out to be better for your project or your budget. But you need to make sure you’re getting the total amount of power that you need.

And this brings up an important consideration. Even though different brands of solar panels (or even different model within the same brand) are advertised as being the same size, they may not deliver the same amount of electricity. This article will give you some additional tips when you’re shopping for your solar panels.