info for newbies like me...what will a single 280 watts panel power?

[KRenn]

ive become really interested in solar panel but its hard to find info as far as what a single panel can power but i want to start small and build up as i learn more about solar.my monthly bill is only 55 dollars so i wont need alot of watts im guessing (a calc. told me 2700 watts) but i really just wanna start with basics before i go and spend 20000 on a whole system and dont know anything about it.any help you can offer is appreciated,thanks

You can't really power anything with one panel, you can't even generally use one panel in terms of a residential scale. Your typical grid-tied inverter will run anywhere from $1500-$3000 and there's string sizing the you must abide by. Also the smaller the system, the higher the cost is per watt(solar is priced per watt the same as gas is priced per gallon, note that watt is a physical measure...ie....panel is 230 watts, but will produce more kilowatt hours than 230). Realistically, unless you're in an area like in California were electricity is priced on tiers and going from one tier to another can result in much higher cost of electricity...for example Tier A charges you $0.012 for the first 1000 kilowatt hours, Tier B charges you $0.018 for the next 1000 and Tier C charges you $0.035 for the 1000 after that(in which case it makes a hell of a lot of sense to avoid Tier C, where a small system can really help), then I wouldn't go any lower than a 4-5 kilowatt system.


If you buy the system, you can expand on it later and add more panels down the road assuming that the inverter will handle the additional panels(or if you have micro-inverters, adding one for every panel). If you go through a lease, you can't expand on the system but you will typically pay less for a prepaid lease with some additional benefits.

[KRenn]

ok thats shot im in a town with a neighbor 60 ft away at best.......i dont know what to do but its more principle with me that im sick of monopolies charging what they want so even if it took 30 yrs to pay off to keep my 6000 a yr out of their pockets its worth it too me. but i just need knowledgable help so im appreciative of your advice

Talk to some local solar installers, Naptown is a very intelligent and helpful contributor on this site, he has a solar business in your state, from everything I understand, it is definitely feasible in Maryland and the return may be better than some others here are indicating. A lot of the return on solar is dependent on the particular region, what the incentives are, how much electricity costs, the potential for higher utility rates down the road, what the weather is like throughout the year, what the price per watt is in that particular area. Believe it or not, the pricing on solar can vary wildly from company to company in the same region, let alone state by state. In Arizona systems are priced at $3.50 a watt or less while next door in California the pricing is $4.00-$5.00 a watt, or a difference of $2500-$7500 on an equal sized 5kW system.