If we were to cover all the residential roofs in the US with solar panels, we could generate enough clean and free energy to power 40% of the country.
There are about 8 billion square meters of roof area in the US, and over 95% of it is just wasted every year, when it could be put to better use – producing 1,400 terawatt-hours of electricity – and make the planet better as well.
Well, that’s the big picture. Now, let’s get down to the small picture. How much solar energy can your home in Connecticut produce if it were to be covered in solar panels entirely?
Let’s find out.
How much roof area do you have?
A residential house in the US has an average of 1700 square feet of roof area. However, the average Connecticut house is larger than the national average. So, your house likely has a larger roof area. Depending on your house plan and design, this figure may change significantly.
How many solar panels can be placed in that area?
Typically, that depends on the brand and model. However, most solar panels come in the size of 5.5ft x 3.33ft, which puts their size at 18.315sq.ft.
So, you can easily arrive at the total number of panels you can fit in 1,700 sq.ft. of area by dividing the total available roof area by each solar panel’s size, which comes to approximately 93.
Now, if you don’t want to climb up the ladder and measure your roof area, then you don’t have to. Google’s Project Sunroof is uniquely equipped to do just that for you. It uses Google’s powerful satellite imaging technology to calculate your roof area at the click of a few buttons.
How much solar power can 93 panels produce?
The amount of solar energy generated by your solar panels depends on their energy generation rating and efficiency. The best-in-class solar panels from LG have a rating of 365W.
Ignoring the efficiency factor for ease of calculation, you can arrive at an approximate value of energy produced by your 93 solar panels.
Total energy produced every hour = 320 x 93 = 29760 Wh
= 29.760 kWh
Considering that Connecticut’s days get peak sunlight of at least 3 hours, the total energy produced over the year is 29.760 x 3 x 365 = 32,587kWh.
Conclusion
The average household in Connecticut doesn’t require more than 9kWh of energy annually. So, your roof likely has more than enough area to meet all your solar energy needs.If you need us to perform an on-site inspection and give you a more accurate estimate on how much solar energy you can generate from your roof, get in touch.
