Chester Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours

Solar Green Energy Summary for Chester, South Dakota

Lattitude: 43.8996

Sunlight

Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.5 hours per day

1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.1 hours per day

2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.6 hours per day

The amount of hours from sunrise to sunset is equal to the total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period. Similarly, peak sun hours are the amount of total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that are strong enough to provide power from being captured by a solar panel. Not every hour of sunlight delivers the same amount of energy resources. The sunlight at sunrise does not provide as many resources as the amount of sunlight mid-day. Thus, looking at the average peak sunlight hours for Chester is valuable for calculating your solar needs.

If you open the newspaper in the morning or watch the weather channel on the news you can get an accurate prediction of sunrise and sunset each day for Chester. However, still knowing that the latitude of Chester is 43.9 can be a helpful number for your solar panel setup and planning. The closer your latitude is to zero the closer you are to the equator. At the equator you find the most consistent total sunlight hours throughout any given day of the year. As your latitude increases you can see larger discrepancies of daily sunlight hours during the year. For example, having very long summer days and very short and dark winter days

Although most things are out of our control, like the sunrise, sunset or the weather, we can control the angle and the kind of mount we use for a solar panel. The angle of the solar panel, if using a fixed mount, should generally be around the angle that is equal to the latitude of the location to maximize output. In the northern hemisphere, panels angles should be lower in the winter months and higher in the summer months As a fixed mount is set, it is ideal to place it at an angle that will capture the most sunlight during the year. A 1-axis tracking solar mount will track the sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset, but the angle will remain the same throughout the day. A 2-axis solar mount will track the sun throughout the day from East to West, but the angle will also change automatically as the seasons change and the angle of the sun in the sky changes. Thus, a 2-axis will have a higher rating of peak sun hours compared to the 1-axis or fixed.

Looking at latitude, average peak sun hours and various data can obviously help when planning for your solar power needs. The one thing you can never fully account for is changing weather. Storms, rain, cloud coverage all have an impact on solar panel capabilities.

In Chester you can look at the average peak sun hours of a fixed solar panel mount, which will be 4.5 hours. This number iis an estimate based on data of previous years. With a tracking mount in Chester you could theoretically increase the amount of peak sun hours per with a 1-axis mount, and get 6.1 hours, or a 2-axis mount and potentially increase your average to 6.6 hours.


Solar Businesses in Chester, South Dakota




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