Whether you want to help our planet or just save some money, the solar panel calculation might be just the tool you want to use. It's created to help you find the perfect solar panel size for your house depending on how much of your electric bill you'd like to offset.

If you're willing to make such an investment, it may be a good idea to compare the cost of going solar versus solar savings. Read on to learn more about it!

Why are solar panels for home use a way to go?
Undoubtedly, renewable energy has a number of benefits affecting several areas of our lives. Many countries are turning towards hydroelectric power or wind turbines, depending on which best suits their natural environment. Why should you follow the trend? Let's see:

Switching to solar panels can indirectly improve your health. The more people go solar, the less traditional power plants you will need in your country. If these are coal or natural gas plants, this means your air quality should increase. As Neil Armstrong said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
Stable prices. The vast majority of solar savings comes from the fact that the fuel is free. Oil prices skyrocketing? Well, that's none of your business if you have your own solar panel power output (and it's not too cloudy). For example, you could use the Tesla charging cost calculator and see how much you would save if you happened to have one of these cars.
Solar panels for home use can also offer reliability. Not only is it rare for them to break, but they can also save you if there's a power shortage in your area. A battery might be a good idea so that you have some saved energy in case the weather or season isn't favorable.

What solar panel size should I choose? Calculate your solar panel needs
Solar panel dimensions are critical if your roof is small or of an unusual shape. Why? These factors affect the usable area, so whatever you sacrifice in size, you'll need to make up for in efficiency. It may seem confusing, so let's go through the whole decision-making process step by step:

Begin by calculating your solar panel needs, and the solar array output. This is when our solar panel calculation steps in. Alternatively, you can just use the formula:
solar array output = electricity consumption / (365 * solar hours in a day),

where the electricity consumption is yearly and expressed in kWh (our energy conversion calculator can help if your electric meter uses other units). Solar hours in a day depend strongly on your location.

You need to account for the environmental factor and how much you want to depend on solar power. In other words, how much of your electricity bill you'd like to offset? The equation is:
solar array size = solar array output * (bill offset / environmental factor),

where both bill offset and environmental factors are expressed as percentages.

The environmental factor represents the percentage of energy produced by the solar array and stored without any loss due to humidity, pollution, snow, or other environmental conditions.

The tricky part begins now. You need to estimate your roof area (you might find a roofing calculator useful). Exclude the bits you cannot place anything on or are normally in the shade since they won't generate any power. This will give you an idea of the maximum solar panel dimensions.