Mound City Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Mound City, Missouri

Lattitude: 40.1365

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.2 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.4 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.7 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.

Although you can easily predict sunrise and sunset hours each day to the minute, looking at latitude can help with your solar planning. The closer you get to the equator the closer your latitude gets to zero. Sunlight hours on the equator are consistent throughout the entire year. Places further from the equator can have large variance in daily sunlight. For example higher latitudes can have very long summer days with lots of sunlight and very dark winters. The latitude of Mound City is 40.1.

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 Mound City. A fixed tilt mount for example will receive 5.2 average hours per day. For more efficiency for your system in Mound City you could use a 1-axis tracking mount and increase your daily peak sun average to 6.4 hours, or even further with a 2-axis panel to get an average of 6.7 hours.


Solar Businesses in Mound City, Missouri




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