How to Choose Solar Panels in Ghana

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How to Choose Solar Panels in Ghana will always be a major question . This is due the the wide assortment of varieties available and the lack of expertise in this specialized area of electrical energy.Solar panels provide renewable energy for your home, which helps the environment and reduces your electricity bill. But not all panels are alike. The material a panel is made of, what solar inverter it uses, and how it mounts to your roof determines what environments it works best in. Before you buy solar panels for your home, research the different factors and decide which option is right for you in Ghana.

Ghana has an average effective sunshine of 5.5 hours daily .As a considerable investment, it’s worth evaluating a solar power system for your home before have it installed. Doing your research and seeking professional advice can help you to make an informed decision. Here are a couple of other things to consider before making the change:

Types of Solar panels in Ghana

There are different types of solar cells, with different efficiencies. Although their names might sound confusing, it is good to know at least the name not to be out-of-topic if your supplier happens to mention this.Popular solar panel brands in Ghana include ,Jinko solar,Victron Energy,TrinaSolar LG,Yingli, and Canadian Solar.Its however important to seek the advice from a professional as there are many knock offs or  fake products on the Ghana  market.

Monocrystalline silicon offers high efficiency and good heat tolerance characteristics with a small footprint. Polycrystalline (or multi-crystalline) silicon cell based solar panels are now the most popular choice in Ghana’s  residential installs. There are also Amorphous (or thin-film) silicon cells, which use the least amount of silicon and are not very efficient. For an equivalent wattage, a crystalline panel will be smaller than an amorphous panel.

monocrystalline solar panels in Ghana installed on a rooftop

Choose monocrystalline solar panels for efficiency. Monocrystalline solar panels are the best at converting light to energy because of their high silicon purity. That being said, monocrystalline solar panels are often the most expensive—this option is best if you want the highest productivity and price tag.

  • Monocrystalline solar panels cost between $150-350 USD per panel.
  • Monocrystalline solar panels also produce the most waste when they’re manufactured. If you’re buying solar panels to go green, another material may suit your needs better.
  • All solar panels are made of silicon. The higher the silicon purity, the better your panel will work, which is why monocrystalline solar panels in Ghana are ideal.

Go with polycrystalline solar panels for an environmentally-friendly option.Polycrystalline solar panels utilize all of the silicon material they’re manufactured with, making them the “greenest” panel option. Polycrystalline solar panels are also cheaper than mono crystalline panels, though they are about 2% less efficient than Mono crystalline.

  • Polycrystalline solar panels in Ghana  usually cost between $100-250 USD per panel.
  • other school of thought claim that Polycrystalline solar panels do not do as well in warm temperatures and that Hot climates with temperatures regularly above around 80 °F (27 °C) are not suitable for polycrystalline panels.This may be true depending on the installation technique utilized.Its important to allow steady air flow underneath the solar panels to produce cooling effect.

Buy thin-film solar panels for the most budget-friendly option. Thin-film panels are cost-efficient to make and are usually the cheapest option. They also, however, degrade faster than other panels. Choose thin-film if you need a simple solar panel that may need more repairs over the years.

There is also another variation called solar cloth i.e photovoltaic textiles we have developed are as thin as bank notes and flexible enough to wrap around a pencil, which allows their use on virtually any type of surface

  • Thin film solar panels usually cost between $125-200 USD per panel.
  • Thin-film panels usually need the most space and are less practical for smaller homes. They may need up to twice as much room as a mono- or polycrystalline solar panel with the same energy output.

Buy amorphous solar panels for smaller homes

Amorphous solar panels are a subset of thin-film solar panels. Generally, they are smaller than other thin-film panels. Through a process called “stacking,” which involves multiple layers of amorphous silicon cells, these panels can reach high levels of efficiency, around twice as high as other thin-film solar panels.

  • Amorphous solar panels are more expensive than other thin-film panels.
  • Amorphous solar panels generally cost between $100-200 USD per panel.

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Inverter Air Conditioners & Ghana’s Rising Electricity Tariffs 

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this picture before the era of digital inverter technology air conditioner

Inverter Air conditioners & the rising electricity tariffs in Ghana

My Nigerian friends often say Ghanaian folk have a signature look, very dark skin and red eyes. This they claim is as a result of the scorching sun in Ghana. Ghana is hot o…….

Average temperatures often range between  35-40 degree Celsius with high levels of humidity . Due to the nature of the weather in Ghana Air-conditioning is no longer a luxury.Most homes and offices who can afford , have invested in one form of cooling or the other while those who cant have settled for fans.But what happens when there is erratic power supply and load shedding  AKA Dumsor  in Ghana? I bet that is another topic for another day.

KIDS COOLING OFF IN ACCRA GHANA

little children cooling off in bowls of water at home on a sunny day in Accra,Ghana

Recent electricity price hikes in Ghana have made Air Conditioners a pain point for most who are concerned about their electricity bills. Electricity bills increase significantly when an air conditioner is added to the list of appliances in a household. Although it is difficult to significantly reduce the “big” impact of an air conditioner on your electricity bills, it can be managed by choosing the right technology. Also by following the right installation/maintenance/operation procedure and also putting into consideration the insulation of room where the air conditioner is being operated.

The latest and the most efficient technology that is available on market today is the Inverter Technology for air conditioners. Inverter technology is designed in such a way as to save 30-50% of electricity (units consumed) compared to regular air conditioning systems.At Nocheski ,we live up to our promise of driving your business with technology and we recommend the use of energy efficient appliances such as inverter Air-conditioners from brands including LG,Daikin,Carrier Samsung , Gencool, Hisense just to name a few.

How do air conditioners work?

For most people, air conditioner just throws cool air at the temperature one sets it at. But does it really work that way? In principle, an air-conditioner during the cooling process, takes the indoor air, cools it by passing it through evaporator and releases it back in the room. It is quite opposite to how our good old air coolers used to work. Air coolers used to take outside air, cool it with water and throw it in. But air conditioners just work on internal air. Along with evaporator an air conditioner also has a compressor that compresses the gas (refrigerant) in the AC to cool it that in turn cools the incoming internal air from the room.

In a regular air conditioner:

The compressor is either off or on. When it is on, it works at full capacity and consumes the maximum electricity it is designed to consume. If the thermostat reaches the temperature level set in the AC, the compressor stops and the fan (in AC) continues to operate. Then the thermostat senses that the temperature has increased, the compressor starts again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvvPDm7I6W0

Air Conditioners with Inverter Technology

The inverter technology works like an accelerator in a car. When compressor needs more power, it gives it more power. When it needs less power, it gives less power. With this technology, the compressor is always on, but draws less power or more power depending on the temperature of the incoming air and the level set in the thermostat. The speed and power of the compressor is adjusted appropriately. Originally developed in Japan for use in air-conditioning systems, digital inverter technology is now applied globally in appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and even microwave ovens.

digital inverter air conditioners,fridges, are getting popular in Ghana

Samsung has a new line-up of household appliances for the digital home that saves on cost and offers more features.

What is benefit of Inverter Technology?

Air conditioner is designed for a maximum peak load. So a 1.5hp AC is designed for a certain size of room and 1 hp for a different size. But not all rooms are same . A regular air conditioner of 1.5hp capacity will always run at peak power requirement when the compressor is running. An air conditioner with inverter technology will run continuously but will draw only that much power that is required to keep the temperature stable at desired levels.  Hence Automatic adjustment of capacity based on the requirement of the room it is cooling and so requiring less electricity for efficient operation although air conditioner with Inverter Technology adjusts its capacity based on the room requirement, it is very important to install a right sized air conditioner in a room.

Its important  that you evaluate the room and air conditioner capacity before you make a purchase.Moreover digital inverter technology appliances such at home further increases the business case for installing solar for home.This as a result of highly reduce electrical load. Check out our off-grid solar  offers for 2-5 bedroom homes .For further clarifications on this subject ,you may contact our product specialist in Tema  here