Summary of a 5kW solar panel system in San Antonio Texas

City: San_Antonio
State: Texas
Latitude: 29.53° N
Longitude: 98.47° W
Elevation: 242 m
PV System Specifications
DC Rating: 5.0 kW
DC to AC Derate Factor: 0.770
AC Rating: 3.8 kW
Array Type: Fixed Tilt
Array Tilt: 29.5°
Array Azimuth: 180.0°
Energy Specifications
Cost of Electricity: 9.7 ¢/kWh

Results

Month Sunlight Hours/ kwh produced/ (kWh) Energy Value in $
January:     4.20    475   46.08
February:   4.89   495    48.02
March:       5.40   603   58.49
April:         5.46   578   56.07
May:          5.61   608   58.98
June:         5.94   605   58.69
July:          6.50    674   65.38
August:     6.41   669   64.89
September:   5.92   600   58.20
October:     5.63   610   59.17
November:   4.80   517   50.15
December:   4.10   463   44.91
Year          5.41   6899   $669.20

Overall, a 5kW solar system that is installed in a home in San Antonio, Texas is going to produce about $669 of electricity per year with the current electricity costs of about 10 cents per kilo watt hour.  If the prices of electricity increase, the dollar value of the electricity produced will also increase while the rest of the variables stay the same.  If the prices of the electricity for example doubled in price to a homeowner, the amount of electricity in dollars that the solar system would produce annually would double as well.

Case Study:  Solar Energy House in Texas

This study is going to review what the expected solar panel costs will be for a medium sized home solar electric system in the state of Texas.  We will look at the system costs, incentives available, expected electricity amounts, and some other variables that are common to a prospective solar energy buyer.   If you have any questions, please be sure to leave a comment and I will answer you right away.

You can look at the picture below to get a feel for what this actual solar panel system might look like if it were installed on your roof.

Equipment for this solar system:

• 24   180 watt PV solar modules
• 1 SunnyBoy inverter
• 1 DC disconnect switch
• some cables and wiring
• 1 Unirac mounting system to place the solar panels on the roof

The total cost for the solar panels and hardware for the system  is usually around $19,000

The expected labor costs for this system could be anywhere from $4,000- $6,000 depending on what  company you decide to work with for installing your system.

4.32 kW solar panel system

Texas Solar Rebates and Incentives for solar panels:

much of the incentives depend on your local utility company in Texas

• Sunset Valley residents can receive up to $3,187.50 per solar system
• Statewide solar production program allowing for $0.27 / kwh produced more information on this program can be found on this website about the solar program
• Austin Residents can receive a $2.50 per AC watt rebate up to $15,000 more info on this program is located here on the Austin power website
• Bryan Texas Utility customers can look forward to a solar panel incentive of up to $2.00/watt AC or $6,000, whichever is less.  more information on this program is found at the Bryan site.
• Entergy Utility customers can make use of a $2.50/ watt with a maximum of $25,000 solar incentive, with more information here: http://www.txreincentives.com/epv/
• Texas New Mexico Power Company customers have a solar incentive program too.  They are offering a rebate in the amount of $2.00/DC watt up to $20,000.  there is more info here: http://www.txreincentives.com/tpv/index.php

Federal Tax Credits that All Texas Solar Panel Projects Can Make Use of:

The 30% Federal Solar Tax Credit is something that everyone can make use of.  This is a tax credit you can take for 30% of the total cost of your solar panel system.

Expected Electricity Output of a 4.32 kW solar panel system in Texas:

• Austin Texas Solar Electricty from 4.32kW system: 572 kwh per month
• Abilene Texas Solar Electricity from a 4.32kW system: 617 kwh per month
• Amarillo Texas Solar Electrity from a 4.32kW system: 628 kwh per month
• Corpus Christi Texas solar electricity from 4.32 kW System: 528 kwh per month
• Fort Worth Texas solar electricity from 4.32kW solar system: 583 kwh per month
• Houston Texas solar electricity from a 4.32kW  solar system: 517 kwh per month
• San Antonio solar electricity from a 4.32kW solar system: 583 kwh per month
• Waco Texas solar electricity generated from a 4.32kW solar system: 583 kwh per month

Understanding how many hours of sun your solar panels are going to receive each day is a very important part of a solar systems performance.  Texas is a great location to setup a solar electric system for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is based on the excellent amount of sunlight the state receives.

Here are some statistics for solar sunlight hours per day in Texas:

Houston Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 4.7 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can bring the average sunlight hours up to 5.9 hours per day

Austin Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 5.2 hours per day with a fixed plate solar panel

• with a one axis tracking flate plate solar collector, you can increase the average sun hours per day in Austin to 6.7 hours

Lubbock Texas Average Sunlight Hours is 5.7 hour per day with fixed angle solar panels

• if you used an axis tracking solar panel you would increase that number to 7.5 hours of sunlight per day in Lubbock

Corpus Christi TX average sunlight hours per day is 4.8 with a standard solar panel

• if you installed an axis tracking solar system you would get 6.2 average sunlight hours per day

Dallas Ft. Worth Texas average sunlight hours per day is 5.2 hours/day

• with an axis tracking solar panel you increase your sunlight hours to 6.9 per day

Midland Texas has an average sunlight hours per day of 5.8 hours

• if you use a tracking solar system you will get 7.7 hours of sunlight per day in Midland Texas

Axis Tracking solar systems are going to have higher performance numbers always in terms of kilowatts of energy produced.  The main reason is they have more direct sunlight hours hitting the axis tracking solar panels.  Solar systems that pivot and follow the sun are great, but at the same time the prices for them are higher.  You want to talk to a solar professional prior to purchasing any type of solar system, and make sure to get a clear estimate on how many hours of sunlight the systems should be expected to receive on average each day.  Every solar electric system installer should be able to provide you with this information.