Do Solar Panels Produce Less In Winter

Solar panels need light not heat.

Do solar panels produce less in winter. It s your home use your own energy. A solar installation generates clean renewable energy year round. Now is a great time to go solar. And while solar panels produce less energy due to the days being shorter and the sun being lower in the sky solar panels can still be a great way to take care of some if not all of your energy needs in the winter.

And again this is the case. This is because that solar panels produce less electricity when it s hot. Solar thermal heats water using the heat of the sun so you would expect it to produce far less usable heat in the winter. More households nationwide are investing in solar systems.

Solar panels only require light not heat to continue functioning correctly. It s pretty easy to notice how much quicker the nights seem to get dark during winter months and yes that will have an effect on your solar panel system s production. It is called the power temperature coefficient and it will be listed as a percentage of power output loss per degree celsius c. Solar panels generally produce about 40 60 less energy during the months of december and january than they do during the months of july and august.

This means that solar power generation is significantly less during the winter than it is during the summer. Fewer hours of daylight means less time for your panels to produce energy which then means you ll need to rely more on public utility energy. In winter months solar panels will brighten your day and your home.