Are Solar Panels affected by any Fall or Winter weather?

Hello Solar friends! This is Channel from PurePoint Energy. We are entering into fall and winter weather here in Connecticut and some of our customers have some doubts or concerns about how effective solar panels are during these climates. I am here to tell you there is no need to worry, they still work! 

1. Do Solar panels work on a cloudy day?

• Solar panels can still produce electricity when there is still no obvious sunshine.
• Typical solar panels can produce 10-25% of their capacity on a cloudy day.
• At PurePoint Energy, we install the best panels for your solar energy system, one of them is SunPower panels.
• Even in low sunlight environments, SunPower’s premium monocrystalline cells are very sensitive to low levels of light. SunPower solar panels “wake up” earlier in the day and will keep generating energy later in the day. 

2. How do solar panels work with snow?

• During the snowy climates, snow may cover your solar panels but that does not mean they turn off or stop working.
• Sunlight may actually go through the panels and warm them up enough to melt the snow off.
• SunPower panels convert photons to electricity in the short wavelengths and long wavelengths of the solar spectrum.
• This means that even during the winter weather, SunPower panels will continue to produce electricity for your home.
• Installing panels at a tilting angle where the snow can slide off is great way to prevent snow from building up on top of the panels. 

3. Steep slope roof vs. Low slope roof


The slope of a roof is often referred to as pitch. The slope, or pitch, of a roof is determined by the vertical rise in inches for every horizontal twelve inch length called the "run". A roof with x rise/12 run slope means that for every 12 inches horizontally (run), it  rises x inches.

• Here's a diagram of the differences between Low and Steep Slope's:
  

• During the winter climate, home owners that have solar panels that are installed in steep slope roof's are going to have a much easier time removing snow. For low slope roof's, it depends on how low the pitch or rise of the roof is.

4. Examples

Below we have two pie charts from two different locations that show the amount of energy produced over the course of one year:

 

• This pie chart shows the amount of energy produced over the course of year 2013 for Averill Farm in Washington Depot CT. Q1 = January, February, March, Q2 = April, May, June, Q3 = July, August, September, Q4 = October, November, December. During the Fall and !inter month's (Q4), you can see there was still energy production of 17% for the Averill Farm Solar Array. Winter weather normally ends around January and February and there was still 22% percent of energy production in Q1.

• This pie chart show the amount of energy produced in the Shagbark Farm in East Hadam, CT over the course of (Q4) in 2014; October, November and December. The rest are up until September of 2015. As you can see here, there was 48% of energy production in Q4 which were the Fall and Winter months. 

In the end, solar panels generate a lot more energy during the Summer and sunny seasons, but are still effective when Fall and Winter weather starts here in Connecticut. There is nothing to be worried about when installing solar energy for your home, it still works! Call and schedule an appointment with PurePoint Energy for a complimentary Solar Evaluation. Visit our website at www.purepointenergy.com and Like us Facebook and Follow us on Twitter for updates!