Solar Calculator: How Much Solar Do I Need?
☀ How much solar do you need?
Add your fans, lights, ACs, fridge and other appliances below — get a real, 2026-ready solar system size for your home, anywhere in the world.
Step 1 — Your appliances
Defaults are common global household values for 2026. Edit any number to match your own home.
Step 2 — Your setup
These affect how many panels, what inverter size, and how much battery you'll need.
Your recommended system
How this is calculated: Daily energy = each appliance's watts × quantity × hours/day, summed and converted to kWh. The solar array size divides that by your region's peak sun hours and a 0.8 system-loss factor (dust, heat, wiring, inverter conversion). Panels needed = array size ÷ panel wattage, rounded up. The inverter size assumes not everything runs at once (an 80% diversity factor) and is rounded up to a standard size (3/4/5/6/8/10/12/15 kW). Battery size = (total load × your essential-backup %) × backup hours.
This is a planning estimate, not a quote. Panel pricing, incentives, grid-connection rules (like net metering or feed-in tariffs), and electricity rates vary enormously by country and change often — always confirm current numbers and roof space with a certified local installer before buying.
How this calculator works
Solar sizing comes down to one core question: how much energy does your home actually use in a day, and how much sunlight does your region reliably get? This tool adds up the wattage and daily hours of every appliance you list to get your total daily energy use in kilowatt-hours (units), then divides that by your region's peak sun hours — adjusted for real-world losses like heat, dust, and inverter conversion, which typically eat up about 20% of a panel's rated output.
From there, it works out how many solar panels you'd need at your chosen wattage, what size inverter can handle your loads (rounded to standard 3–15 kW sizes), and how much battery capacity you'd want for your desired backup hours during an outage or evening use. The region dropdown covers North America, Europe, the Middle East, South & Southeast Asia, East Asia, Oceania, and South America with realistic peak-sun-hour estimates for each — or you can enter a custom value if you know your local solar irradiance more precisely.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the calculator ask about inverter vs. non-inverter AC?
Inverter air conditioners adjust compressor speed to match demand and use roughly 40–60% less electricity than conventional units of the same capacity — which matters a lot for solar sizing, since AC is usually the single biggest load in a home.
How accurate is the panel wattage recommendation?
It's a solid planning estimate, not a final engineering spec. Actual installations also depend on your roof space, shading, panel orientation, and local regulations — a certified installer will refine these numbers with a site visit.
Does this account for net metering or feed-in tariffs?
No — those vary enormously by country and even by utility company, and they change often. This tool focuses purely on sizing your system to your usage, not on the economics of selling excess power back to the grid.
What if I don't know my exact appliance wattages?
The defaults are realistic global averages for common appliances — you can leave them as-is for a rough estimate, or check your appliance's nameplate (usually on a sticker on the back or bottom) for exact figures.
Can I use this for a business or just a home?
It works for any building — just list the actual appliances and equipment you're running, regardless of whether it's residential or commercial.
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