Otterville Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Otterville, Illinois

Lattitude: 39.0508

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.3 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.6 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.5 hours per day

The average amount of peak sun hours in a day is a different and more useful number as it relates to solar panels than total sun hours. Total sun hours are exactly what you would expect; the total amount of hours that the sun is out during a 24 hour period. Peak sun hours, on the other hand, are the total number of hours in a day where the sunshine is strong enough to to be absorbed and used by solar panels. Sunlight early in the morning or late at night is often not strong enough to count toward peak sun hours. Because of this, total sun hours will always be more than peak sun hours. Looking at the average peak sun hours in Otterville throughout the year can help you better estimate the amount of solar panels you will need to power your business or home.

The latitude at the equator of the earth is zero degrees. This is where sunlight strikes the earth most directly. Due to the earth's curved shape, sunlight hits at a various angles depending on location. As latitude increases, the further you are located from the equator and more variance you see in sunlight hours. The latitude of Otterville is 39.1.

Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the Otterville sky. The suns position in the sky also changes throughout the year with the seasons. A fixed solar panel does not accommodate for these changes. However, a 1-axis panel rotates and follows the sun’s path during the day. A 2-axis panel both follows the sun’s daily path as well as the seasonal differences

The sun is a great ball of gas that rises and sets every day that the earth rotates while in orbit around the sun. Barring any major disasters this is a very predictable occurance every day. Latitude helps predict this even more, narrowing it down to the minute for sunrise and sunset. But some things aren’t as predictable that will greatly influence the efficiency of solar panels. Weather and cloud coverage for example can greatly diminish peak sun hours on any given day. Thick storm clouds will block a high percentage of the sun's rays, resulting in lower output of your solar panels. Weather needs to be factored into deciding when to use your system, or how much output one expects to get.

Since we know the latitude of Otterville we can take the average amount of total sunlight hours and estimate that with a fixed solar panel there would be an average of 4.3 peak sun hours per day. 5.6 hours per day with a 1-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset, and 6.5 hours with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.


Solar Businesses in Otterville, Illinois




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