I'm doing a science fair experiment with a tiny two-inch solar panel that only gives off like .5 volts of energy, but I need to know how many volts an average sized solar panel (like one you'd get to run your house) would produce. And how many panels do people usually get?
2 volt and 24 volt are both common sizes. They are rated in voltage and watts. So you add the watts of the panels and buy enough to produce the amount of watts you need. For example, if you need 400 watts of power at 2 volts, you would buy four 00 watt 2 volt panels and connect them in parallel.
You should read up on the different electrical units. You say .5 volts of energy, but this makes little sense. Energy is measured in Joules. Power in Watts. Solar panels will produce different voltages and currents, depending on the amount and angle of sunlight hitting them. Power = volts * amps. Before installing solar panels a home owner should do an energy audit to find out how much power they currently use - and how much that could be reduced with some easy changes. Solar panels are expensive, so it makes sense to reduce the amount that you need to install. In some places you can sell extra power back to your utility - so having extra panels might give you some small amount of money back - but this is rarely enough to justify the cost of the extra panels. I put 28 panels on my house (see picture in source URL). My utility has tiered pricing for electricity (first few kWh each month are cheap, but price for extra ones goes up in stages). My panels keep me from having to pay the higher rates.
