Gary D Posted June 29, 2019 Posted June 29, 2019 (edited) It's the hottest day of the year hear today and at 6.00 pm the sun is still very bright but my south facing panels are putting out about a quarter of what they were at midday Edited June 29, 2019 by Gary D 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virginprune Posted June 29, 2019 Posted June 29, 2019 My house is south facing therein I get sun on both sides during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeoffH Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 Sometimes solar panel installations are split between two different roof directions so that some of the panels get morning sun and some get afternoon sun, that's what was done on my house in Australia. It requires more panels to get to a wanted peak output figure but the output tends to stay closer to level during the day (weather excepting). This is less important if the house has a battery bank but I didn't opt for that. I'm still considering whether to fit solar to the house in CDO, the electric bill vs the cost and the payback time is harder to work out because getting a fixed quote is proving... problematic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Tommy T. Posted June 30, 2019 Forum Support Posted June 30, 2019 10 hours ago, Jack Peterson said: ********* Solar panels use the energy from daylight, as opposed to sunlight, to produce electricity so panels do not need direct sunlight to work. It is photons in natural daylight which is converted by solar panels cells to produce electricity. Heat has no effect on the production of electricity.**** Sorry Jack... I have to agree with Viking. I lived on a yacht and used solar panels for my primary electrical power for over 20 years. Yes, you are right, some power is generated from general daylight. But I spent literally years watching my ammeter on the yacht as clouds would pass overhead and lessen the amount of direct sunlight upon those panels. During the peak sunlight times between about 10 am and 2 pm, I would see up to about 25 amps incoming with no load. (I was reading books while reclining and keeping one eye on the electrical panel). Even a bit of cloud passing by would drop that to 10 amps or even less, if it was heavy cloud. Actually, the heat that is also generated by that direct sunlight reduced the output of the panels by some margin - I read about that effect, but never quantified it directly. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Peterson Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 1 minute ago, Tommy T. said: Sorry Jack... I have to agree with Viking. Oh, Dont be sorry to me, they are not my words but taken from the Web site of a Solar Company ( I believe) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Tommy T. Posted June 30, 2019 Forum Support Posted June 30, 2019 1 minute ago, Jack Peterson said: Oh, Dont be sorry to me, they are not my words but taken from the Web site of a Solar Company ( I believe) Ah... okay. But then that solar company may have made some misleading statements - maybe to encourage increased sales? Would not be the first time. But I loved those solar panels! Even during cloudy days they produced something - which is a lot better than nothing! They saved me a lot of diesel and engine wear and tear. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimeve Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 12 hours ago, Jack Peterson said: Apparently Not; ********* Solar panels use the energy from daylight, as opposed to sunlight, to produce electricity so panels do not need direct sunlight to work. It is photons in natural daylight which is converted by solar panels cells to produce electricity. Heat has no effect on the production of electricity.**** Jack, solar panel need sunlight to work those that are available here. Some more advanced panels that can't be bought here may work in semi shade for a few hours only. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Peterson Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 1 minute ago, jimeve said: Jack, solar panel need sunlight to work those that are available here. Some more advanced panels that can't be bought here may work in semi shade for a few hours only. Well I guess the Web pages I have read are wrong then 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimeve Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 Just now, Jack Peterson said: Well I guess the Web pages I have read are wrong then Definitely, put a solar panel without sunlight and it will only receive about 1% of it's capacity. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Peterson Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 Just now, jimeve said: Definitely, put a solar panel without sunlight and it will only receive about 1% of it's capacity. Well I won't lose any sleep over it as I am not thinking of going Solar. So I will be 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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