Ravenel Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Ravenel, South Carolina

Lattitude: 32.7768

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.3 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.3 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.6 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 5.3 per day can help you determine the amount of solar panels you need to install to power your home or business in Ravenel, South Carolina.

Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Ravenel is 32.8. Knowing the latitude of Ravenel 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.

A tracking mount will increase the average peak sun hours for a solar power system. Think about a panel that is tracking the sun in the sky vs a panel that is fixed and not moving: you will see a higher efficiency ratio of productions. A 1-axis mount will track the sun from East to West from sunrise to sunset and move on a single axis of rotation. A 2-axis mount will track the Sun from East to West the same as a 1-axis mount would, but it will also track the angle of the sun in the sky as it slowly varies season to season. A 2-axis mount is more necessary in high latitude regions where the angle of the sun in the sky changes dramatically between each equinox.

The sun is a great ball of gas that rises and sets every day that the earth rotates while in orbit around the sun. Barring any major disasters this is a very predictable occurance every day. Latitude helps predict this even more, narrowing it down to the minute for sunrise and sunset. But some things aren’t as predictable that will greatly influence the efficiency of solar panels. Weather and cloud coverage for example can greatly diminish peak sun hours on any given day. Thick storm clouds will block a high percentage of the sun's rays, resulting in lower output of your solar panels. Weather needs to be factored into deciding when to use your system, or how much output one expects to get.

By taking the latitude of Ravenel one can get a close estimate of the amount of average peak sun hours per day for the geographical area. It varies with technology and the type of solar panel mount you use, but for a fixed mount solar panel in Ravenel one can expect close to 5.3 average peak sun hours per day. With a 1-axis tracking mount you would get 6.3 hours per day, and 6.6 hours per day with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.


Solar Businesses in Ravenel, South Carolina




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