McWhorter Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for McWhorter, West Virginia
Lattitude: 39.1273
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.3 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.5 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.5 hours per day
It goes without saying that throughout the year the amount of sunlight in any given day is going to vary. The time of year and weather will have a strong influence on daily sunshine. Looking at the average amount of peak sunshine hours in a day during an entire year stretch is a valuable exercise when trying to determine the amount and type of solar panels you need to install to power your business or your home. 4.3 peak sun hours means that in McWhorter on average there are 4.3 hours a day where the sun is strong enough for solar panels to harness its energy. This number is less than the amount of total sunlight hours in a day because there are times during the day (ex. sunrise and sunset) where the sun is not strong enough to benefit solar panels.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of McWhorter is 39.1. Knowing the latitude of McWhorter 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.
Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the McWhorter sky. The suns position in the sky also changes throughout the year with the seasons. A fixed solar panel does not accommodate for these changes. However, a 1-axis panel rotates and follows the sun’s path during the day. A 2-axis panel both follows the sun’s daily path as well as the seasonal differences
Weather is a big determinate of average peak sun hours each day. There are many aspects of weather that can increase or lessen the peak sun hours in a day in a particular location. For example cloud coverage is a crucial variable. And more importantly, what type of cloud coverage; thin scattered clouds will have less diminishing power on the solar insolation than thick rainy storm clouds. Sometimes long periods of sunny days are rare in certain locations, this would increase average peak sun hours for that time-frame
We can take the latitude of McWhorter 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, McWhorter will receive 4.3 average peak sun hours per day. This number can be increased to 5.5 hours by using a 1-axis tracking mount, or 6.5 hours from a 2-axis tracking mount.