Crockett Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Crockett, California

Lattitude: 38.052

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.6 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.3 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.8 hours per day

Peak sun hours is one of the most important criteria to examine when considering installing a solar power system. Peak sun hours are different than total sunlight hours in a day because the strength of the radiation of the sun varies throughout the day. For example, during sunrise and sunset the solar insolation from the sun is less powerful than at noon. For a moment of sunshine to be considered a peak sun hour the intensity needs to be at least 1 kilowatt per square meter. This means that a square meter of your solar panel should be receiving 1 kilowatt of energy from the sun. This number is used because it is an amount of light that allows a solar panel to produce output efficiently and not under perform due to lack of sunlight power.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Crockett is 38.1. Knowing the latitude of Crockett can help you plan for your solar panel setup, as the larger the latitude the more variance you will see throughout the year for total daily sunlight hours.

Although most things are out of our control, like the sunrise, sunset or the weather, we can control the angle and the kind of mount we use for a solar panel. The angle of the solar panel, if using a fixed mount, should generally be around the angle that is equal to the latitude of the location to maximize output. In the northern hemisphere, panels angles should be lower in the winter months and higher in the summer months As a fixed mount is set, it is ideal to place it at an angle that will capture the most sunlight during the year. A 1-axis tracking solar mount will track the sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset, but the angle will remain the same throughout the day. A 2-axis solar mount will track the sun throughout the day from East to West, but the angle will also change automatically as the seasons change and the angle of the sun in the sky changes. Thus, a 2-axis will have a higher rating of peak sun hours compared to the 1-axis or fixed.

Peak sun hours are greatly affected by weather patterns. Cloud coverage is a huge factor in peak sun hours per day because heavy cloud coverage will diminish the power of the solar insolation. You can use historical climate data to estimate average cloud and weather coverage, but it will obviously vary slightly from year to year.

We can use previous years of data to estimate the amount of peak sun hours in Crockett. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 5.6 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Crockett you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 7.3 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 7.8 hours.


Solar Businesses in Crockett, California




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