How solar panels work in winter PV calculator

Users often ask the question: Do solar panels work when the yard is minus and how effective are they in winter? Especially when there is no sun and the day is too short.

Sometimes people think that solar panels use heat from the sun. In fact, they use sunlight, not heat or even sunlight. Therefore, in winter they will work quite well, provided that the owner removes the snow from them, although they will also work under the snow. And sometimes, the snow itself thaws from the work of solar cells.

Of course, in cloudy weather, the panels will produce less light than usual, but in general, there are rarely cases when the battery does not have time to charge during the day. In cold weather, the batteries will be very efficient.



In winter, the level of inclination of solar cells is very important, since the sun drops lower and this also affects their productivity. Often a universal angle is set, for a whole year.

The productivity of solar panels in winter can fall from 2 to 8 times depending on the region, the more south, the higher the productivity. Therefore, the larger the area of the batteries themselves, the more energy they will be able to collect. If in summer for the work of the refrigerator, computer and lighting at home you need 1 kW of energy (this is 4 panels of 250 watts), then in winter for reliability it is better to stock up on 2 kW.

For solar collectors, it is important to ensure that the tubes through which liquid passes in winter do not freeze. Although nominally they can heat water and at -30 degrees to 10-15 degrees and further heating do other devices.

How to calculate the productivity of solar cells in winter



To calculate the efficiency of solar panels, you need to know a number of indicators: solar activity by months, the efficiency of your batteries and their cost.

For a basic calculation of the performance of your solar cells, you can use a PVW calculator. It is a renewable resource that is linked to a solar activity data center across the planet. You just need to specify your country and city on the map, enter the number of your solar panels and you will get annual battery performance by month. published



P.S. And remember, just changing our consumption – together we change the world!

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Source: www.ecology.md