What Is A 10kW Solar System?
A 10kW solar system is a solar panel system that can provide your dwelling with 10 kilowatts (kW) of power at peak production.
If you have a 5kW solar system and it’s not producing enough energy, you might want to consider upgrading to a 10kW solar system. It behaves the same way as a 5kW solar system but has twice the capacity.
how much does a 10kw solar system produce per day
A 10kW solar panel energy system produces around 10,000 watts of electricity per hour. Considering this, a 10kW solar panel energy system should deliver anywhere from 29 to 46 kWh per day, depending on where you live and how many hours of sunlight you receive each day.
For example, if you live in San Diego and receive 4 hours of sunlight per day on average, you can expect your system to produce 72 kWh per day6. If you live in Seattle and receive 5 hours of sunlight per day on average, then your system could produce up to 85 kWh per day7.
Can a 10kW solar system run a house?
Yes, a 10 kW solar system can run a house.
10kW solar systems are on the large side for residential installations (where 5kW to 6.6kW is much more common). So as mentioned above, 10kW systems tend to be most appropriate for homes or businesses with significant amounts of daytime electricity consumption above 40kWh per day.
How many panels & how much roof space for a 10 kW solar system?
A 10 kW solar system will need about 25-30 solar panels, which are typically 1.7 metres by 1 metres in size. A 10kW system will require about 80 m2 of roof space, so if your roof is smaller than that, you may need to consider adding a battery to store some of the electricity produced by your solar panels.
More efficient solar panels will reduce the amount of roof space required and typically cost more as they are utilising newer technologies.
How Does A 10kW Solar System Work?
You may have heard that solar panels are made of cells that absorb sunlight, but what exactly does this mean?
The answer lies with what is in your solar panels — solar cells or photovoltaic (PV). These convert solar power to electricity. In each panel, manufacturers arrange together a set of solar cells. Depending on the number of cells in each panel and their corresponding efficiency, you can determine the basic rating of a solar panel. Therefore, this explains why we can describe solar panels by the number of cells in each panel (e.g., 60-cell types for residential homes).
Here’s how a solar panel works its free electricity magic — when sunlight hits your solar panel, the PV cells absorb the solar energy that wakes up and moves electrons via an electrical field within the solar cell. And by definition, the created flow of electrons is the usable electric current we use to run our devices at home.
Is a 10kW solar system right for you?
10kW solar systems are on the large side for residential installations (where 5kW to 6.6kW is much more common). So as mentioned above, 10kW systems tend to be most appropriate for homes or businesses with significant amounts of daytime electricity consumption above 40kWh per day.
The table below should give you some idea about whether or not a 10kW system may be well-suited to your needs – or if a better system size might be a better match. We recommend that you self-consume at least 30% of the the solar energy that your system produces.
How much will a 10kW solar system save on electricity bills?
The amount you’ll save on electricity bills with a 10kW system will depend on how much you get paid for exported electricity (solar feed in tariffs) and how much you self consume.
Feed in tariffs in Australia pay anywhere from 3c to 20c, depending on the state and retailer. Let’s work on 8c per kWh for exported electricity. Most people pay about 30c per kWh to buy electricity from the grid. So let’s consider 3 scenarios to see how the payback works:
1) Use all the solar electricity in your (huge) home or business: You would save approximately $4500 in the first year. But 100% self-consumption for a household is unlikely; there will be times when your 10kW system is exporting to the grid.
2) Export half the electricity: You would save about $2700 in the first year.
3) Export all the electricity: You would save about $1000 in the first year.
Moral of the story: The more solar you self consume, the faster your payback.
If you think that this sounds very counter-intuitive, then you can read about the relationship between exports and payback here.
How much does a 10kW solar power system cost in 2023?
We’re here to help you get the most out of your solar power system.
If you’re looking for a 10kW solar power system, expect to pay about $3,960 in STCs (AKA the solar rebate), which means that you should expect to pay about $8,500 – $13,000 out of pocket costs for a good quality 10kW solar system in 2023. That’s quite a price range – the reason is the cost of a 10kW solar system will depend on the type of components used. At the upper end of the price range it will be top of the line panels and inverter installed by a particularly fussy installer. At the lower end, you should still get good quality components (but do your research). Be wary of systems below the bottom end of this price range – there can be a high cost associated with cheap solar in terms of problems down the track.
How long before a 10kW solar power system pays for itself?
The simple answer is: it depends.
In order to know how long it will take for your solar power system to pay itself off, you need to know two things: the feed-in tariff and how much electricity you consume.
Let’s say you have a 10kW system and you live in a state with a feed-in tariff of 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). The simple payback time would be: (10 x 7.5) / 1000 * 365 = 3 years, 10 months.
But let’s say you live in an area where there’s no feed-in tariff, or that it’s just 1 cent per kWh. In that case, your simple payback time would be: (10 x 1) / 1000 * 365 = 2 years 6 months!
But what if you happen to be one of those people who consume more than 100% of what their solar panels produce? If this is the case for you, then your simple payback time will be lower than if it wasn’t the case for you because some of that electricity will come from other sources (like coal).
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