Solar energy is a combination of the hours of sunlight you get at your site and the strength of that sunlight.
This varies depending on the time of year and where you live.
This combination of hours and strength of sunlight is called solar insolation or solar irradiance, and the results can be expressed as watts per square metre (W/m²) or, more usefully, in kilowatt-hours per square metre spread over the period of a day (kWh/m²/day). One square metre is equal to 9.9 square feet.
Photovoltaic solar panels quote the expected number of watts of power they can generate, based on a solar irradiance of 1,000 watts per square metre. This figure is often shown as a watts-peak (Wp) figure and shows how much power the solar panel can produce in ideal conditions. A solar irradiance of 1,000 watts per square metre is what you could expect to receive at solar noon in the middle of summer at the equator. It is not an average reading that you could expect to achieve on a daily basis.
However, once you know the solar irradiance for your area, quoted as a daily average (i.e. the number of kilowatt-hours per square metre per day), you can multiply this figure by the wattage of the solar panel to give you an idea of the daily amount of energy you can expect your solar panels to provide.
This combination of hours and strength of sunlight is called solar insolation or solar irradiance, and the results can be expressed as watts per square metre (W/m²) or, more usefully, in kilowatt-hours per square metre spread over the period of a day (kWh/m²/day). One square metre is equal to 9.9 square feet.
Why choose a solar electric system?
Why is it useful?
Photovoltaic solar panels quote the expected number of watts of power they can generate, based on a solar irradiance of 1,000 watts per square metre. This figure is often shown as a watts-peak (Wp) figure and shows how much power the solar panel can produce in ideal conditions. A solar irradiance of 1,000 watts per square metre is what you could expect to receive at solar noon in the middle of summer at the equator. It is not an average reading that you could expect to achieve on a daily basis.
However, once you know the solar irradiance for your area, quoted as a daily average (i.e. the number of kilowatt-hours per square metre per day), you can multiply this figure by the wattage of the solar panel to give you an idea of the daily amount of energy you can expect your solar panels to provide.
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