Mentasta Lake Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Mentasta Lake, Alaska
Lattitude: 62.9864
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 2.5 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 3.8 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.7 hours per day
If you put your solar powered math calculator in your backpack it will turn off from the lack of sunlight needed to power the device. As you slowly open your backpack and begin to let sunlight in, the calculator will eventually turn on when the amount of sunlight is enough to power the calculator. Similarly, peak sun hours refer to the hours of they day where the sunlight is strong enough to power a solar panel. This is different from total sunlight hours, which is simply the amount of hours in a day when there is any sunlight.
Knowing the latitude of Mentasta Lake will help estimate average peak sun hours for your area. The latitude is used to accurately estimate the time of sunrise and sunset, thus giving you the total hours of daylight each day. Once you know the total hours of daylight, you can estimate the amount of peak sun hours based on a number of variables such as weather, time of year, the angle of the solar panel.
The sun moves through the sky during the day, and changes positions in the sky throughout the year as the seasons change. A fixed solar panel remains fixed in position during this movement. So, although it is effective in capturing sunlight, a 1-axis or 2-axis panel can be more efficient. A 1-axis panel tracks the sun's movement throughout the day from sunrise to sunset. In addition to that, the 2-axis panel also accounts for the movement throughout the year.
Looking at latitude, average peak sun hours and various data can obviously help when planning for your solar power needs. The one thing you can never fully account for is changing weather. Storms, rain, cloud coverage all have an impact on solar panel capabilities.
Since we know the latitude of Mentasta Lake we can take the average amount of total sunlight hours and estimate that with a fixed solar panel there would be an average of 2.5 peak sun hours per day. 3.8 hours per day with a 1-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset, and 4.7 hours with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.