![]() ![]() How much you'll save - and how quickly you'll see a return on your investment in a particular state - depends on many factors, like the cost of electricity, solar incentives available, net metering, and the quality of your solar panels. No matter where you live, solar energy can be an excellent investment and an excellent way to help combat climate change. New York, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Boston, Seattle - all of those cities experience inclement weather, from rain and fog to blizzards, yet they're also cities where people see huge savings by getting solar. In other words, solar power can still work well in typically cloudy, cold locations. But depending on the cloud cover and the quality of the solar panels, the efficiency of the solar panels' electricity production commonly drops from 10 to 25 percent or more compared to a sunny day. For that same reason, solar panels can still produce electricity on cloudy days. Anyone who has been sunburned on a cloudy day knows that solar radiation penetrates through clouds. So the real question is: if the weather can affect solar energy production, are some states better candidates for solar energy than others? The short answer is yes, but not necessarily because of the weather. Obviously, some states get more sun than others. Do Some States Get More Solar Energy Than Others? So even though your panels may be less efficient in warm weather, they'll still likely produce more electricity in summer than in winter. In addition to fewer clouds, the sun is usually out for more of the day. Sunnier weather often occurs in the warmer summer months. ![]() As the temperature rises, the panel generates less voltage and produces less electricity.īut even though solar panels are more efficient in cold weather, they don't necessarily produce more electricity in the winter than in summer. This allows the panel to produce more electricity in the same amount of time. ![]() But like most electronics, solar panels are actually more efficient in cold weather than in warm weather. Perfect conditions for producing solar energy include a clear sunny day, of course. Weather conditions can impact the amount of electricity a solar system produces, but not exactly in the way you might think. Since then solar has continued to grow and break records around the globe. In 2017, the International Energy Agency showed that solar had become the world's fastest-growing source of power – marking the first time that solar energy's growth had surpassed that of all other fuels. But solar technology is improving and the cost of going solar is dropping rapidly, so our ability to harness the sun's abundance of energy is on the rise. Every hour, enough photons impact our planet to generate enough solar energy to theoretically satisfy global energy needs for an entire year.Ĭurrently, photovoltaic power accounts for only five-tenths of one percent of the energy consumed in the United States. ![]() It releases tiny packets of energy called photons, which travel 93 million miles from the sun to Earth in about 8.5 minutes. About 173,000 terawatts of solar energy strike the Earth at any given time - more than 10,000 times the world's total energy needs.Ĭapturing the sun's energy with a business or home solar system that creates clean electricity is a key solution in combating the current climate crisis and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Simply put, solar is the most abundant source of energy on Earth. Jump to " How do Solar Panels Work" What Is Solar Energy? ![]()
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