To anyone who plans to go all solar for their house, I would take the effort RIGHT NOW to start monitoring the total power usage for your house, including peak, average, and low power usage. As an added step, you may even want to set up an anemometer, with a digital logging system, on your roof to see if possibly wind power would be more advantageous, or even a hybrid wind/solar power system.

At least an entire year's worth of data is best so you see how much power you use for all 4 seasons.

This sort of data will not only help you plan the capacity for your system, but also will help you learn how to conserve power before you begin to rely on the panels.

Also, see what your utility company has for options with a grid-tied system. Many times you can sell your surplus power BACK to the grid, and get a CREDIT on your power bills. A grid tied system will also save you a LOT of money up-front since you don't have to buy banks of batteries and monitoring gear.

Finally, before you even research solar power, please realize that for efficiency-sake, you will save a LOT more money, and fossil fuels switching to a Solar Heat system, than you would switching to a Photovoltaic system for your house. If you plan to do both, by all means, but at least check out both options.

Quote Originally Posted by Pedalmonkey View Post
and how big would those said 200w panels be?
Well, your typical 170W panel is about 2 foot by 4 foot.