Clearbrook Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Clearbrook, Minnesota

Lattitude: 47.6961

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.9 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.4 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 Clearbrook throughout the year can help you better estimate the amount of solar panels you will need to power your business or home.

The equator has a latitude of zero while Clearbrook has a latitude of 47.7. Any city located on the equator will receive the most sunlight throughout the year because the sunlight arrives at a perpendicular 90 degree angle to the earth at the equator. The further you are from the equator the more your daily sunlight hours can vary.

Depending on your output needs, to get more out of your solar panels you can either upgrade your technology, buy more panels, or buy different tracking type panels. A fixed solar panel remains fixed at one angle throughout the year. A 1-axis panel will produce more output because it follows the path of the sun from sunrise to sunset to maximize sun exposure. Even more productive is a 2-axis panel that not only follows the sun's path throughout the day, but also accounts for the more subtle sun changes throughout the year with the different seasons.

Weather is a big determinate of average peak sun hours each day. There are many aspects of weather that can increase or lessen the peak sun hours in a day in a particular location. For example cloud coverage is a crucial variable. And more importantly, what type of cloud coverage; thin scattered clouds will have less diminishing power on the solar insolation than thick rainy storm clouds. Sometimes long periods of sunny days are rare in certain locations, this would increase average peak sun hours for that time-frame

We can use previous years of data to estimate the amount of peak sun hours in Clearbrook. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 4.9 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Clearbrook you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 6 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 6.4 hours.


Solar Businesses in Clearbrook, Minnesota




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