Hamilton Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Hamilton, Missouri
Lattitude: 39.7426
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.3 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.6 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.8 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 Hamilton throughout the year can help you better estimate the amount of solar panels you will need to power your business or home.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Hamilton is 39.7. Knowing the latitude of Hamilton 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.
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.
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 Hamilton. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 5.3 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Hamilton you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 6.6 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 6.8 hours.
Helpful & Interesting
Which country has highest per capita electricity consumption?
Iceland. Total electricity consumed annually plus imports and minus exports, expressed in kilowatt-hours. The discrepancy between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution. Per capita figures expressed per 1 population.