Whitney Point Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Whitney Point, New York

Lattitude: 42.3303

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.2 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.8 hours per day

Peak sun hours is arguably the most important number to consider before installing your solar panels. Unlike total sun hours, peak sun hours are calculated by looking at the amount of sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that is strong enough to be absorb by a solar panel. One way to imagine peak sun hours is to think about a solar powered calculator you owned in school. If you covered the solar panel with your finger, or tried to use the calculator in the dark, the calculator would not work. As you slowly exposed the calculator to light the calculator would eventually turn on and be usable. The same is true with peak sun hours; these are the hours that your solar panels receive enough sunlight to work. Looking at the average peak sunlight hours of 4.2 per day can help you determine the amount of solar panels you need to install to power your home or business in Whitney Point, New York.

The latitude of the location is important for measuring peak sun hours. The latitude determines how much overall sunlight there will be in a day. With a given latitude, time and date, one can accurately determine when sunrise and sunset will occur. Areas with latitudes closer to the equator will have a more consistent range of solar insolation throughout the year. Whereas areas closer to the poles will have a greater variance during the summer and winter months due to their higher latitudes.

Since a fixed solar panel is set in one position it is ideal to place it at an angle that will expose the panel to the most sunlight throughout the year. This angle is generally the same angle of your latitude which is 42.3 for Whitney Point. You do not need to strategically place a 1-axis or 2-axis panel as much as you do a fixed panel. A 1-axis panel follows the movement of the sun during the day. Additionally, a 2-axis panel also adjusts for the suns various positions in the sky throughout the year.

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 take the latitude of Whitney Point and use that number to know the amount of total sunlight hours in the region from sunlight to sunset and estimate that with a fixed solar panel, Whitney Point will receive 4.2 average peak sun hours per day. This number can be increased to 5 hours by using a 1-axis tracking mount, or 5.8 hours from a 2-axis tracking mount.


Solar Businesses in Whitney Point, New York




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *