Solar conversion roadmap

               I was just thinking how one should pursue converting one’s home to solar, so I decided to share with our user the approach I prefer.  Below are my suggested steps to converting your home to solar. I have already discussed one of these steps, energy conservation. I plan to discuss remaining steps in detail in coming days.

 Generally speaking almost 10% - 30% homes here in Pakistan already have UPS installed. In case you already own UPS you need to reduce your consumption by investing in energy efficient appliances before pursuing solar solution. In case you don’t invest in energy conservation then you will not be able to use full potential of solar energy.

                You also need to reevaluate first 3 steps every year as new advances are taking place in energy conserving appliances.

Estimating daily power usage

We discussed about importance of knowing your energy consumption mix.  One of ways is to prepare a chart of all appliances in your house and then put estimated number of hours these appliances are used. You need to know how much energy is consumed by each appliance per hour. You will be able to estimate your daily power usage. This chart will also help you in planning solar installation. I have here a sample excel sheet. You can extend it to add your own appliances.

 

Home Appliance	Avg hrs/day	Estimated Load	# of equipment	Total Watts
Ceiling Fan	0	100	0	0
Padestal Fan	0	150	0	0
Energy Savers(25 watts)	0	25	0	0
Energy Savers(14 watts)	0	14	0	0
Energy Savers(11 watts)	0	11	0	0
Tube Light (small)	0	40	0	0
Tube Light (big)	0	80	0	0
Windows A/C	0	2000	0	0
Refrigerator	0	200	0	0
Room Cooler	0	200	0	0
Micro wave	0	500	0	0
Iron	0	1000	0	0
Radio	0	40	0	0
Television	0	200	0	0
Computer	0	200	0	0
Water Pump 1/2 hrspower		370	0	0
Total Watts/day				0