We need electricity for everything from running kitchen appliances and air conditioners to watching TVs and charging cell phones, and all of that consumption adds up. However, did you know you can use portable solar panels to reduce your electricity bill?
By fixing your electricity costs at a reduced cost per unit, portable solar systems are an excellent way to reduce your energy bill without making significant changes to your energy consumption.
In this blog, we will discuss how to save on electric bills using portable solar panels and a portable solar generator.
What Are Portable Solar Panels?
As the name suggests, portable solar panels are small-sized solar panels that you can easily install and carry anywhere. Just like a regular solar panel, portable solar panels transform energy from the sun into heat or electricity and contain an assembly of photovoltaic cells. All divided into smaller cells, where a cell consists of thin layers of silicon. They differ in size; however, you can carry even the biggest solar panel easily inside a car.
What are Portable Solar Generators?
A solar power generator is any system that runs off of solar energy. However, when most people say solar generator, they are talking about a portable power station that uses solar panels in place of fossil fuels to generate electricity.
A portable solar generator makes use of solar panels to capture energy from the sun and then stores the energy in a battery. A lot of solar generators can be used for boats, RV camping, and as a source of backup power in the event of a blackout or grid power outage.
Common Reasons Why You Get a High Electric Bill with Solar Panels
According to EIA data, the monthly average electricity bill of an American household in 2020 was $117. Correctly installed and operational solar panels can lower your electricity bill by up to 90 percent. However, it's not always true.
This can happen because a regular household generally generates just enough solar energy to offset a percentage of its power consumption. Nevertheless, the reason isn't always that easy. Here are some reasons why you can get a high electricity bill even when you have solar panels installed.
1. Malfunctioning Solar Panels
Even though solar panels are designed to generate electricity from sunlight, they can malfunction and start consuming energy from the grid. This can really skyrocket your electricity bill. Additionally, if your solar energy system isn't grounded properly, it can result in a fire.
2. Your Home is Consuming Excessive Power
Even if your solar panels are installed correctly, you can still overuse electricity. If your solar panels are not lowering your energy bill, it can be due to several reasons, such as:
- Your solar system is producing lower electricity than your consumption.
- You use too much electricity at night when your panels aren't producing it.
- You have plugged in too many devices or appliances.
- You leave lights and appliances on when they are not in use.
- Your appliances and light bulbs are not energy efficient.
3. Incorrect Reading on the Electric Meter
The reading on the electric meter indicates how much electricity you are consuming. Nevertheless, even electric meters can display incorrect results, generally because of malfunctioning equipment or human error. Keep in mind that incorrect meter readings can lead to higher electricity bills. Thus, it is necessary to notice them earlier.
You can lower the probability of an incorrect meter reading by keeping an eye on your consumption and checking the accuracy of your meter every month.
4. External Factors
If you have eliminated all of the above factors but your electricity bill is still fairly high, you need to look at external factors. Several factors can adversely impact the output of solar panels and, consequently, your electricity bill. Apart from the level of shade and sunlight, these factors include –
- The orientation of your home
- The angle of the roof
- Dirt on the solar panels
- Weather
How to Lower Electric Bill?
It's critical to be aware of your electricity consumption and take steps to conserve energy, even if you are producing your own energy. If you are looking for answers on how to lower your electric bill, make sure to try out these solutions and tips we have prepared for you.
1. Look at External Factors
You obviously cannot change the weather in your area, nor can you influence the number of sunlight hours. Nevertheless, there are a few things that you can control.
Firstly, keep in mind that solar panels generate electricity when exposed to sunlight. Thus, if you wish to increase their output, it is important to place them in a sunny location. The best thing about solar panels is that you can move them around and place them in a location that receives the highest amount of sunlight.
Secondly, solar panels work most efficiently when they are clean. Therefore, regularly wipe away any debris or dirt that could obstruct the sun's rays. Check out this article here on how to clean your solar panels to reduce energy costs.
2. Get More Solar Panels
In certain cases, solar panel systems aren't sized properly for the house, or the location and orientation of the panels are not optimal. Consequently, the homeowner doesn't get the maximum benefit of solar installation, and the bills go higher.
If you have small-sized solar panels, chances are you miscalculated something and don't have enough of them. You can overcome this problem by increasing the number of solar panels.
3. Sync Your Electricity Consumption with Your Solar Panels
Think about how you consume electricity during various times of the day. For instance, if you know that your solar panels generate more electricity during the day, try to use appliances such as the washing machine or dishwasher during that period.
In addition, you might want to use energy-efficient appliances during the day and switch to bulbs that have a lower wattage at night. Again, switch off the appliances and lights when they are not in use.
Top Applications of Portable Solar Panels and Generators
When you are thinking of how to save electricity with solar panels, you might also think about which appliances and machines you can power with portable solar panels and generators.
1. Large Appliances
Large appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners consume a lot of electricity. Running these appliances will undoubtedly lead to high annual costs. For example, it costs around $400 per year to keep your air conditioning on and around $100 to keep your refrigerator on all throughout the year.
Given the importance of these home appliances, you can power them up using a solar energy system. Even though you might require a heavy initial investment for solar panels that are big enough to run large appliances, you won't have to pay for electricity.
2. Electric Cooker
An electric cooker is an essential appliance in every home, and the good news is that you can power it using a portable solar system. Cookers range from small coffee machines to large-sized ovens.
Using an electric cooker, you can prepare meals either in your home or outdoors while you're on a hiking or camping trip. As long as you have a moderately-sized electric cooker, a 500W portable solar system will be able to power it without any trouble.
3. DIY Tools
You can even power DIY tools using a solar energy system. Drilling tools are quite useful at home and for outdoor events such as hiking and camping. Nevertheless, DIY tools have gotten quite advanced in the last couple of years, and they use more power than usual.
A 1500-watt solar panel can run most of the routers and drills available on the market. Nevertheless, if you want to run a circular saw or a larger machine, you will require at least 3000 watts. If you need to use multiple DIY tools, you should opt for a 4000-watt solar panel array.
4. Electronic Devices
Smart devices are extremely important. In fact, it has become impossible to go even a single day without checking your texts, messages, and emails. Given how important these devices are, most solar systems are designed to run them at the basic level. You can just plug them via a 12V DC or an AC adapter into the solar system.
5. Pool Heaters
If you reside in an area that gets cold during the winters, you might be searching for ways to keep your swimming pool warm even when the temperatures drop. This is going to help prevent damage to your pump and pipes during freezing temperatures.
Portable solar hot tub heaters are perfect for keeping your pool warm every season without switching on your heater every day or depending on costly propane or gas heaters.
Best Portable Solar Panels and Generator Systems
Here are some of the top portable solar panels and generators that you can invest in.
1. BLUETTI EB3A Portable Power Station
Integrated charger, fast charging, Bluetooth app control, nine device ports, along with a multi-color sectional LCD, the BLUETTI EB3A power station is one of the best picks in the midsize solar power station market boasting all the latest features.
Offering 268Wh of Lithium Iron Phosphate battery capacity that's capable of producing 600 watts of output along with an industry-standard array of other ports, the BLUETTI EB3A is an excellent and budget-friendly pick.
2. BLUETTI AC200MAX + 3*PV200 | Solar Generator Kit
The BLUETTI AC200MAX offers some amazing features, including a Bluetooth connection, a NEMA TT-30 socket for RV enthusiasts, along with the ability to expand the battery capacity with two extra batteries. Thanks to these features, you can get a system that will help you save electricity and minimize your dependency on the grid.
Last Few Words
We hope this article gave you a thorough insight into how to save electricity with solar panels and portable solar generators. To get the maximum possible savings from your portable solar panel system, make sure to choose a system with the appropriate wattage and clean the panels regularly to maximize their efficiency. Our customer care team is happy to answer any of your questions so reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you!
Shop Bluetti for all your solar needs
