At the current time, the entire world has been accepting and investing in renewable energy sources at an increasing rate. India is not an exception of it. India is emerging as the leading producer of renewable power creating a healthier, safe, and green environment. To keep on promoting sustainable development, the Indian government is targeting solar installations.
Over the last decade, solar power technology has advanced quickly. Since solar power is a sustainable and pollution-free source of energy, most people are investing in different uses of solar energy such as powering homes, heating water, charging cars, and lots more.
Solar energy produces no greenhouse gases after installation and provides clean renewable power without depending on fast-depleting fossil fuels and foreign oil. Moreover, extra energy can be again sold to the solar power distribution company if the grid inner tied. If you want to get all of these long-term benefits with great savings, install a solar panel. It will help you in paying only for the monthly energy charges based on your usage and a signed PPA (power purchase agreement).
Before installing a solar power panel, it is worth understanding the different parameters that affect the efficiency and production capacity of these systems throughout the year. It will help in making an informed decision based on your requirement to get a better ROI (return on investment).
What Factors Affect the Solar Power Generation?
There are numerous factors responsible for affecting solar panel performance throughout the year. Want to discover these factors in detail? Read the following points.
Temperature
Since solar energy is produced using sunlight, most people believe that increasing temperature means an increment in higher solar power generation. But, this is not true. The reality is that the efficiency of the solar panel gets reduced by approximately 0.25 percent for every degree higher than 25 degree Celsius, reaching a maximum value of approximately 25 degree Celsius.
The voltage between the solar cells gets reduced due to exposure to increased heat. This further reduces the capacity of solar panels for optimum production. That’s a reason why the capacity of 100Wp solar panels get reduced to that of 75Wp on summer days when the temperature is 45 degree Celsius or more.
Solar Panels Cleanliness
The performance of solar panels is highly dependent on their cleanliness. Sandstorms, dust, dirt, pollution, and rainfall can have a negative impact on the functioning and efficiency of the panels and other solar products.
Routine solar street light maintenance and cleaning of solar panel’s surface helps in removing the collected dirt and provides maximum power production. Effective cleaning at least once in a month can help you with increased solar electricity generation.
Shading
Many people assume that solar power generation is also affected by shading. If any component or part of your solar panel is shaded at any time throughout the day, the solar production will reduce in proportion to that region. However, it is just a myth and holds no truth. The loss of power can be much higher.
Solar cells in a single panel or across panels are linked and supported in a series. So, the flow of the current through the whole chain of connected cells is obstructed by the shaded cells. That’s a reason why trusted solar energy companies in India always recommend users prevent the installation of solar panels in regions having shading through a significant part of the day.
Area
As every one of us knows that local weather changes from one location to another in India. The same is true for the amount of sunshine in a year. The sunshine never remains the same throughout the year in all the locations. This also affects solar insolation, the quantity of solar power falling on every cm2 per minute. So, if you are planning to invest in a solar panel for industrial or business applications, make sure to take annual solar irradiance.
Terrace or Rooftop Orientation
The appropriate position of the solar panels is important to ensure optimum energy production. It must be installed and positioned in a way that it will get the maximum quantity of sunlight throughout the day that is too straight.
Since the sun doesn’t remain in the same position and its direction keeps on changing from early morning to evening, you will have to adjust the solar panels regularly. It will help you in ensuring that sun rays fall straight on the panel surface and you will enjoy the maximum hours of sunlight. Unfortunately, this is not possible to do manually. You may use advanced technologies for rooftop or terrace orientation and help your solar panel regularly track the sun.
You can prevent these factors from affecting the output of your solar panel and other solar systems with just some adjustments. With regular rooftop solar system maintenance and using solar energy storage, you can get a constant supply of solar energy throughout the year.
Does Solar Panel Performance Affect by Storm, Cold Weather, and Rain?
The reputed solar energy distribution companies in India offer first-class solar panels that are designed to work efficiently during storms, heavy rainfall, severe cold weather, and other climatic conditions for about 25 years or more duration.
The panel’s outside layer of glass makes storm, dust, and rainwater (precipitation) fall right off the solar panel and prevents surface heating. A straight lightning contact, however, can destroy panels and other essential associated components due to a sudden change in the voltage. This makes solar panels produce power at a comparatively much lower rate than the optimum production level during storms, cloudy days, and rains.
Even though the hours of sunlight are less in the winter days, most Indian regions still have more than sufficient sunlight to generate the optimum quantity of electricity. But, it is always recommended to keep some storage along with you using innovative solar storage system to use power in the night and in the days when production is less and energy demand is high.
Why It is Important to Consider Annual Solar Power Generation?
During solar system installation, it is highly important to think about the annual solar energy production. The rate of solar power generation keeps on changing throughout the year. It might be less in the winter season and twice as high in the summer season. So, instead of considering your solar panel efficiency and output on a specific day of a particular season, you must take into account solar energy production throughout the year.
The optimum working of your solar panel at maximum efficiency will reduce the investment in annual power use. The annual energy generation will make your solar panel installation a great choice for sustainable, clean, affordable, and green energy investment.
Increased awareness is important to ensure the best use of your solar panels for maximum power generation and usage. It is not just a matter of one day. You need to completely understand the advantages and disadvantages of solar panel installation in your specific locality. So, keep into account all the factors mentioned above and use the best solar power battery storage solution to take advantage of clean and zero-emission solar power.