System

About Our Solar Panel System

Our solar panel system is designed to provide efficient, reliable, and sustainable energy for our home. The system currently consists of 36 solar panels, each rated at 250 watts, giving us a total capacity of 9,000 watts (9 kW).

The panels are split evenly: 18 panels on the East side power one 5,000-watt inverter, while 18 panels on the West side power a second inverter.

Our panels are tiltable to optimize energy production throughout the year:

• Spring & Fall: 33° tilt
• Winter: 55° tilt
• Summer: 8° tilt

The two inverters feed into a load center, providing two-phase power to the entire house. The load center supplies all household circuits except the dryer, large hot-water heaters (the smaller 1,500-watt hot water heater is included), and the electric stove.

Build History

• January 2024: Initial installation with 10 panels.
• June 2024: Expanded to 30 panels.
• November 2025: Battery pack upgraded from 7.5 kWh to 15 kWh.
• October 2025: PC added for data collection (records every minute).
• March 2026: 6 more panels added, bringing the total to 36.

Heating and cooling are provided by three mini-split systems, all powered by solar. Even during winter, the solar system has supplied all household needs connected to the load center, with grid input power remaining at zero amps. Only the dryer, large hot-water heaters, and stove use grid power, keeping our monthly electric bill around $40.