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Each electrical appliance uses a predictable amount of power per hour. You can find the number stamped on most appliances. To save you the trouble, you can use SolarSense's calculator (See the links below). This is a big help. But it only gets you so far. You still have to figure out what solar panels you'll need (i.e. what capacity). How? If you have a 60 watt light bulb, you multiply 60 watts times the number of hours you use it to know how much power you have used. For example, 4 hours times 60 watts equals 240 watt-hours of electricity. In order to figure out how many solar panels you'll need, you must do this calculation for each of your appliances -- estimating an average number of hours' use. (You will know whether you should under- or over-estimate, depending on your situation (money, locale -- city, country, tundra). Unfortunately, in the end, it will come down to money, shipping costs, customs (and other) fees and whether you feel you absolutely need certain appliances (a curling iron?). It's up to you. ;-)) So, make a spread sheet. Your headings will be Something like "Number," "Appliance Name," "Wattaage," "Hours," and "Watt-Hours." You can try the spread sheet below. If your version doesn't work, just put the formula into the 2E cell. The formula for Watt-Hours is =SUM(C2*D2)(A2). Then drag the formula down the column -- up to, but not including the "total" row.

• SolarSense Wattage Calculator.
• XLS Worksheet for your Watt-hours

Attachment	Size
energycalculator.ods	16.16 KB
energycalculator.ots	16.17 KB
energycalculator.xls	102.5 KB
energycalculator.xlt	102.5 KB
energycalculator.sxc	16.01 KB
energycalculator.stc	16.01 KB