Home > categories > Energy Products > Solar Panels > Are solar panels only effective in places where there is an abundance of sunlight?
Question:

Are solar panels only effective in places where there is an abundance of sunlight?

I live in a higher LATITUDE so in the winter months, there is a limitation in the amount of sunlight available, but will this impediment restrict the ability of solar panels to function due to the lack of sunlight involved?

Answer:

But int the summer months you will have longer days than someone on the equator. Depending on your local power company, you may be able to back feed into the grid and draw back out the same amount a few months later.
Solar panels work in sunlight, so obviously the more sunlight, the more power. However, ironically, solar panels don't like heat, so they work better in the cold. Higher altitudes often have more sunlight, due to less crud in the atmosphere, and are often colder than lower altitudes, so you will often get better performance in higher locations. We have solar systems working in every continent in the world, including near both the north and south pole.
You can learn to create a system to Harvest solar energy in the heat form. To many people are focusing on electrical generation.Solar Heat from the Sun is easier to gather from the sun.It requires no power once installed due to the Fact that heat rises .A multiple of applications of heat collection exist since the 960's.
Solar panels generate power only during sunshine hours. But they only need sunshine, they don't like the heat, that comes along with the sunshine. So its a trade off, the places that have a lot of sun, also have a lot of heat, and places that do not have a lot of sun are not that hot. But you do need sunlight to run solar panels. There's a lot of tools available which can tell you how much power you are able to generate given your location.
Solar panels are *more* effective in places with abundant sunlight, but can be used anywhere that there is light. The problem is an economic one. Solar panels are expensive and can only produce so many watts per square meter. If you have less sunlight, you'll need more panels to get the same amount of power. Germany has a relatively high latitude, and are reported to make extensive use of solar panels (funny, I spent 2 weeks there last month and saw very few panels). The reason for their use of the panels is that their government offsets the cost of installing them through subsidies. Other governments have similar programs.

Share to: