What Can A 400 Watt Solar Panel Power?
Electricity changed human history forever. We are desperately reliant on it for everything, even the most basic things like cooking food and heating our homes in some cases. The United States is going through an energy crisis, however, with electricity prices rising all over the country.
One way to offset electricity costs is to install solar panels in your home, which may perform better depending on what state you live in. Though you should know they're expensive to install, they can be a great financial aid in the long term, and they are everywhere, from RVs and camping trailers with solar power to cars.
Now, a question that tends to arise around solar power is how much power you actually generate. How big a panel do you need to power your phone? Your TV? Your kitchen? Solar panels come in all sizes, so if you, for example, have a 400-watt solar panel, it might not power your car, but it will still serve to power a lot of things you use every day.
What you can power with a 400-watt solar panel
One bad thing about solar panels is that they are expensive to install and they aren't exactly environmentally friendly to manufacture. Sure, there have been improvements, like ultra-thin solar cells you just glue to a surface and let it power up, but it is nonetheless a concern.
A 400-watt solar panel is above the average wattage for solar panels you can find today, meaning it will give you more than enough juice for many things. A single 400-watt solar panel tends to contain about 60 solar cells, and they generate between 1.2 and 1.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day, depending on the amount of sunlight your roof gets.
Most household electronics, from televisions to laptops and consoles, can be powered by a 400-watt solar panel. An average smartphone has a 15-watt-hour battery, meaning a 400-watt panel can charge over 100 phones a day with its 1.5 kWh power.
Home appliances like microwaves, washing machines, and even refrigerators can be powered with 400-watt solar panels, but be warned that you will probably need more than a single panel to do so.