With all the tech words of watts and amps, loads and inverters – it will be a daunting task for a normal person to choose a solar power system. It will be way more easier to get the correct solar power system if you know your power requirement. Let’s look at how easy it is to create a Power Requirements list. We also recommend reading the limitations of an OFF Grid system before continuing.
How to Calculate your Power requirement
take a piece of paper and a pen, or get a note on your phone – make a list of all the electrical appliances used in your home or office. From very small things like light bulbs to everything else like Your Fridge, TV, Induction Cooker (ඉන්ඩක්ෂණ් කුකර්), Kettle, Rice Cooker and Air Conditioner and everything that uses power. The Next part will be looking at boxes or labels on the devices to know the exact amount of watts used by the device.
Power Usage List
| Appliance (watts) | Nos | Total (watts) |
| LED bulbs (10w) | 5 | 50w |
| Rice Cooker (750w) | 1 | 750w |
| Iron විදුලි ඉස්ත්රික්කය (1500w) | 1 | 1500w |
| Stand Fan (50w) | 2 | 100w |
| LED TV (50w) | 1 | 50w |
| Electric Kettle (1100w) | 1 | 1100w |
| Total watts | 3550w |
once you make this list, you will have an idea of your total electric power consumption – now it is easier to figure out what home appliances will be used in the day time, and what home appliance swill be used in night time. This way you will get an idea of how your electrical power consumption will be during the day and night. This will help you to decide if an OFF-grid solar power system is the ideal solution for you or not! (read our guide on OFF-GRID Solar power system limitations)
This general idea of your electrical power requirement will also help you to know the maximum electric power load of your home or office if you use all the major electrical appliances at once. This is crucial because once the off-grid solar power system is on – The solar Inverter will handle all the electrical power – day and night through the unit. If you choose a 3kW Inverter and try to get 3500w of electrical power through it, the Inverter will shut off. Else you must manually change the electrical power supply from solar power system to main electrical power (ප්රධාන විදුලිය) using the change-over implemented in the system in such a scenario.
Educating your Family Members
The Above scenario also introduces a new obstacle. That is, If you are not home (which will be normal), Your Family members must be aware of the Solar power system and how to manage the electrical loads. Every inverter will have a digital display to let you know the power load. If your Family Members know how to read the electrical load and communicate with each other before switching on heavy electricity-using equipment – it will be easy to use a 3kW solar inverter power system for the above house requirement.
Future Expansion
Getting into an OFF-GRID Solar power system means a big investment. This must be planned with your future power demand growth in mind. If you have an idea to get an AC or a large TV in 2 – 3 years, then Investing in a 5kW Inverter with a minimum set of PV Panels and then Adding panels later as you require will be the better solution. Since a 3kW Inverter uses the 24v system – If you try to switch to a 5kW system later which uses 48v – you will need to change a lot of things.
If you are pretty sure that your Requirement can be managed by a 3kW solar power generation system, then invest in it. With all This knowledge you can contact us to get your solar power solution with trust.
