A few factors to consider that'll adjust your personal solar generation potential: roof space, location, and equipment specs. More panels equals more energy production, so a larger roof means more capacity to generate solar electricity.
Can rooftop solar power replace traditional electricity sources?
Gernaat et al. (2020) estimated that the global suitable roof area for PV generation was 36 billion square meters. This represents a potential of 8.3 PWh/y, which is equivalent to 150% of the global residential electricity demand in 2015. This demonstrates the potential of replacing traditional electricity sources with rooftop PVs.
Can rooftop photovoltaics be used for electricity generation?
Together with the rooftop PV areas estimated through remote sensing and computer vision techniques, and the solar radiation data obtained from meteorological stations, we generated spatiotemporal PV power generation profiles. This study is centered around the utilization of rooftop photovoltaics for electricity generation.
Realistically, your roof's solar generation potential will be less than that. It'll likely still exceed your typical household energy needs, but real-world constraints like roof space, sunlight exposure, and equipment specifications play a huge role in your panels' actual generation.
How do we predict rooftop PV power generation potential?
Upon validation, we estimated the rooftop PV power generation potential using solar radiation data from meteorological stations. We then proceeded to predict the potential supply-demand mismatch within the grid by considering various scenarios of future PV penetration rates.
Do rooftop PV resources affect solar energy generation in China?
It is observed that areas with sufficient rooftop PV capacities have moderate to inferior PV efficiency (CF ≤ 0.14), while building roof resources are scare in areas with high PV efficiency (CF close to 0.20). Such spatial inconsistency between roof resources and solar resources somehow reduces the electricity generation of rooftop PVs in China.
In some cases, way more than you probably need. According to our calculations, the average-sized roof can produce about 21,840 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar electricity annually—about double the average U.S. home's usage of 10,791 kWh.