How Much Electricity Can a Solar Panel Produce?

Depending on the location and the type of solar panels, a solar system can produce as much as 4kWh of electricity per day. Each 1kW of solar panels can produce about 4kWh electricity per day. So, a 6.6kW solar system in Queensland Australia will generate about 26.4kWh on a good day, while a 20kW solar system will produce around 81kWh per day. That is just a rough guideline: The actual amount of power generated per kW of solar panels depends on where you are, what time of the year it is, and the amount of sun you receive, how quality of system it is, how orientation the panels are, how old they are, etc. For example, In Hobart Australia, that might only be as little as 3.5kWh a day, whereas the same 1kW panel in Perth might produce 5.5kWh.

Solar panels are composed of silicon wafers that are shaped into crystals containing a positive and negative charge. These crystals collect energy from the sun and convert it into electrical current. These panels can be monocrystalline or polycrystalline. They have different efficiencies and cost, and are largely influenced by the number of solar cells they contain. A typical monocrystalline panel has 60 cells, while a polycrystalline panel contains twice as many cells.

Among the many different types of solar panels available, monocrystalline is the most common. While they are cheaper than polycrystalline panels, they don't produce as much energy as monocrystalline. They also have a shorter lifespan than monocrystalline solar panels, and are less efficient in high-temperature conditions. Polycrystalline panels are also less expensive than monocrystalline panels, but they are often more complex and prone to errors and electrical shocks. In addition to this, polycrystalline panels are less flexible than monocrystalline ones.

A professionally installed solar panel system can cost anywhere from $3,500 to $8000 for 6kw system, or if you go for a larger $20kw system you can expect to pay between 15,000 to twenty-five thousand dollars. (This depends on the brands of solar panels and inverters, the location of your residence, the complex of the installation, etc.)

If you are looking to install a solar panel system with a battery, this can add an extra five to seven thousand to the overall cost of the 6.6kw system project. For off-grid systems, where you don't have access to the grid, you may need more solar panels and larger storage to get the desired power.

Solar panels are relatively inexpensive right now, and there is also economy of scale to installing large systems, so it is worth talking with your solar retailer about what size of system you can afford. Typical solar PV systems installed in 2021 were at least 6.6kW, and we think this is a good size for most homes to target now. That said, larger systems in the 8-10kW range are becoming increasingly common, particularly for systems including storage batteries.

You may feel that you are better off if your system is larger, as any surplus power is exported back to the grid, which you would pay through your feed-in tariff. But feed-in tariffs on new solar PV systems are typically very low -- usually between four and eight cents a kilowatt-hour, although you may be able to negotiate better deals with certain power retailers -- and that alone is unlikely to justify the expense of a larger system.

The real advantage of a larger system is that it will be easier to add batteries, to make the most of the inverter capacity, and just generate more electricity over the course of a day, so that you are unlikely to need grid electricity. And the extra electricity that you are sending into the grid will mean there is more solar-generated electricity on your system for other homes to use.