Greencastle Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Greencastle, Pennsylvania

Lattitude: 39.7907

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.6 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.7 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.9 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.

Knowing that the latitude of Greencastle is 39.8 can be helpful for understanding total sunlight hour variance. As you approach the equator latitude approaches zero. The closer the latitude is to zero, the more consistent the daily sunlight hours are throughout the year. Total sunlight hour consistency simply makes planning for your solar power needs easier, but it is certainly not a requirement.

There are a few ways to increase average peak sun hours per year for your solar power system. One way is to use a tracking mount solar panel instead of a fixed tilt solar panel. A 1-axis mount will track the sun throughout the sky from sunrise to sunset, giving your panel a more efficient facing direction towards the sun throughout the day. A 2-axis solar panel will track the sun in the sky throughout the day, but also change and follow the angle of the sun in the sky throughout the year. Both of these axis system solar panels will produce higher average peak sun hours than a fixed solar panel.

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.

In Greencastle you can look at the average peak sun hours of a fixed solar panel mount, which will be 4.6 hours. This number iis an estimate based on data of previous years. With a tracking mount in Greencastle you could theoretically increase the amount of peak sun hours per with a 1-axis mount, and get 5.7 hours, or a 2-axis mount and potentially increase your average to 5.9 hours.


Solar Businesses in Greencastle, Pennsylvania




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