I am researching applications of solar cell usage on small and possibly larger scales. However the answer to a simple problem eludes me. And i can think of no better place to try gaining an legit answer than here.
When measuring watt comsumption lets say in a light bulb at 60 watts. What is this calculation derived from? Is it watts per second, per hour or what?
Same thing with usage of solar panels watt production. lets say a 10 watt panel. Is this ten watts per second, per hour or what?
Im trying to to get a general idea based on my homes daily energy consumption how large or how high wattage panels i will need to sumpliment or all but eliminate need for high cost power companies energy.
Hopefully some one can shed some light here.
More Pages:
- Solar Producer: When Will Solar And Wind Power Be Affordable To The Average Home Owner? (8/11/2011)
- Solar Panel experts…please help.?
- Solar Turbines: How Many Solar Cells Would It Take To Light A 4 Watt 12 Volt Bulb? (8/6/2011)
- Solar Panel: Do You Need A Regulator To Hook Up A 5000 Watt Power Inverter To A Solar Panel? (5/24/2011)
- Solar Panel: 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit Harbor Freight? (6/30/2011)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Watts are a unit of power. Power is energy per unit time. By definition, a watt is a joule per second. So the answer to your question is that a 60 watt light bulb requires 60 watts to power. It requires 60 joules per second. A 10 watt solar panel produces 10 watts, or 10 joules per second.
You will frequently hear the electricty company talk about kilowatt-hours. This is a convenient unit of energy (Power times Time). So if a 60 watt light bulb is on for an hour, then it has used 60 watt-hours (or 0.06 kW-hrs) of energy.
A watt is a unit of energy flow. It is joules per second. Like gallons per hour. A 10 Watt panel will put out 10 Watts as long as it is in sunlight.
A joule is completed work.
Watts are volts times amps, and amps are couloumbs per second, so you’ve already got time factored in. Watts is a rate of energy consumption. If a bulb is 60 watts, it draws power at a rate of 60 watts for whatever time it is on. And if it’s on for 10 hours, the total power it used was 600 watt-hours. cool?