OK, so if you put solar panels up on a roof, they are busy turning the sun's energy into electricity. So, does that mean the roof (and therefore the house/structure) stays cooler as well? Or does it still get hot, because . . . I dunno, maybe the panels don't convert all the energy, and the spillover still heats up the building.Any links or URLs to scientific answers would be appreciated, but I don't mind hearing from the Average Joe or (Joelle).
it would depend on the type of paneling. And compared to what. Since it absorbs solar energy, that includes some heat. Compared to white paint, which may reflect more of the heat, it depends.
The type depends upon what you want the solar panels to do. Generate electricity ? Heat gain? Makes a big difference. You should probably get a contractor who specialises in solar panels out to at least start your education on this subject or you could throw a lot of money away on something you don't really need or want.
I asked the same question once to a PV install during a seminar a few years back, and he explained the following: No, PV panels do not reflect or absorb much heat from going into the building below but there is a reason for this: PV panels that reflect / absorb heat produce less electricity. They are designed to Thermally Transparent. Even worse if installed incorrectly without a good angle and air gap to allow the heat to escape the panels will actually trap this heat and increase the interior temperature of the building below! Below is the scientific analysis that is quite verbose but has two nice graphs at the end. To summarize: Adding PV panels, at best, shaded the building enough to reduce the load of the interior A/C unit by .8 kWh/sq-m/year. The electricity generated by the panels was about 356 kWh/sq-m/year. You can see the big advantage of PV panels is to make power, not reflect heat. Proper insulation is much cheaper and will do a much better job. Don’t worry, I was shocked too, but like anything it makes sense after it is explained.
