Most people think solar panels don’t work on overcast days or that they should be avoided if you don’t have a lot of sunlight. Solar panels do their best work when there are no clouds in the sky, but they still generate energy when they are cloudy or rainy. Knowing how weather affects their efficiency, and what you can do, will allow for you to maximize solar energy production year round.
How Solar Panels Perform on Cloudy Days?
What’s typically misunderstood is that solar panels only work when the sun shines directly on them, but you can actually collect diffuse or scattered light when it’s cloudy. In essence, this means your panels can’t do much even on an overcast day, but they’ll still generate some electricity, albeit not as much as on a sunny day.
- Efficiency Drop: On cloudy days, solar panels’ capacities of production normally decline between 10% and 50%, depending on factors like cloud density, panel orientation and quality of the system. The reduction may sound big but your panels are not useless – they will continue to make a lot of energy.
- Impact of Rain: Rainy days also reduce solar panel output as they do under cloudy conditions. The more cloud cover the more production will also drop off, but the panels will also still capture light and produce some electricity.
You can’t control the weather but you can do things to keep your solar system performing optimally even if the sky is overcast.
Solar Batterie to save energy
Installing storage batteries are one of the best way to pay up to compensate for lower production when it is cloudy days. On sunny days, these batteries can store excess energy that can then offer a back up power source if a lack is due to sunshine. Batteries are an expensive prospect—around €2,500 outlay for a 5kWh unit—and they last more than 10 years, so really worth a look if you’re after long term energy savings.
Regular Maintenance Is Key
And for it to be efficient, both your solar panels and the entire system have to be kept clean. Furthermore, dirty or other obstructions can block sunlight further reducing performance on cloudy days. Then an annual hose and pressurized water cleaning is also good to perform to ensure best energy output. Avoid thermal shock which could damage the system, do this early in the morning when the panels are still cooled.
Optimize the Panel Angle
Where your panels are situated matters a LOT — particularly in driving sunlight — but only in the relatively simple situation in which it is completely overcast. For maximum energy absorption during the year, your solar panels should be set at the right tilt for your geographic location.
Additional Ways to Get the Full Benefit from Solar Energy.
Avoid Shaded Areas: See to it that the spot where you have placed your panels gets unobstructed sunlight all through the day. It can be drastically reduced by shade from nearby trees, buildings or other structures.
Monitor and Adjust as Needed: Measure your solar panel’s growth and take action as required with a monitoring system. It can tell you if something is off with your system, whether that’s dirt accumulating on your panel, or your panel angles are incorrect and affecting your system’s efficiency.
Why Solar Panels Still Make Financial Sense Even On Cloudy Days
Solar energy is still a viable and effective source of power, even on those cloudy days, and it’s true that cloudy days reduce solar panel efficiency. Stra tegeies that you can adopt will make sure that you get to conserve on energy bills as it will also limit your carbon footprint.
Final Thoughts
Investing in solar panels is not just leveraging days when its sunny. Whether there’s weather or not, by installing a storage battery, maintaining proper system status, and locating the panels correctly you can help keep your solar installation running efficiently. Happiness is cloudy and it has nothing to do with the fact that it is cloudy but if you want to receive a bample of happyness don’t let the cloudy days discourage you from yielding ups to the bample of solar energy because with a little preparation, you can still generate some serious savings without any singificant environmental impact.