Rockwood Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Rockwood, Illinois
Lattitude: 37.8404
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.2 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.6 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.9 hours per day
Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Rockwood is a valuable number for determining your solar power setup. Peak sunlight hours are only the hours a day in which the sunlight is strong enough for the solar panels to do their job. Not every hour of sunlight was created equal. For example, solar panels do not provide much use during early sunrise and sunset, and therefore you should not look at total hours of sunlight in a day, but instead focus on peak sunlight hours. Using this number will provide a much better estimate of your needs for setting up panels in Rockwood, Illinois.
Knowing the latitude of Rockwood 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.
They type of solar panel you use has an affect on the average peak sunlight hours. Some panels allow for movement, so they can track the sun as it rises in the east and sets in the west, or as the seasons change and the sun's path changes. A fixed panel remains fixed and does not have the ability to rotate, whereas a 1-axis and 2-axis panel can adjust with the sun.
Another reason to consider average peak sun hours is because weather can dramatically affect the day-to-day output of solar panels. It goes without saying that a dark stormy day will produce less output than a clear sunny day. Looking at a yearly average helps account for these daily variables.
We can use previous years of data to estimate the amount of peak sun hours in Rockwood. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 4.2 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Rockwood you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 5.6 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 5.9 hours.