Do Solar Panels Work Better In Hot Weather

In fact overly hot climates can cause solar panels to overheat.

Do solar panels work better in hot weather.

It s almost like asking a person to run 5 miles in hot weather conditions. Most likely the person will end up sweaty tired and dehydrated. Generally solar panels don t begin to lose efficiency until their temperature rises to 77 degrees. But there s an interesting twist.

It may seem counter intuitive but solar panel efficiency is affected negatively by temperature increases. Solar panels work by using incoming photons to excite electrons in a semiconductor to a higher energy level. Impact of different weather on solar panels most solar panels are built to handle a wide range of climates and conditions including heavy rain hail wind heat and cold. On the other hand if the weather is pleasant the run will be more effective.

The energy production efficiency of solar panels drops when the panel reaches hot temperatures. We may assume that solar panels thrive in hot sunny weather but too much heat can actually reduce solar panel output 10 25. Although they work better on sunny versus cloudy days solar panels don t work best in particularly hot climates. So very hot weather isn t the best condition for them.

Cells work because of electrical processes but those processes can become sluggish or inefficient when the panels get hot. Because of this solar panels work better in certain areas than others. But the hotter the panel is the greater the number of electrons that are already in the excited state. It turns out that you might get your best solar energy output in the spring and not the summer as you might think.

Surprisingly they perform worse as the temperature rises. Photovoltaic modules are tested at a temperature of 25 degrees c stc about 77 degrees f and depending on their installed location heat can reduce output efficiency by 10 25. Time to do some math. Panasonic s efficiency rate is 21 6.

In fact many solar panels demonstrate better output when the weather is a little chilly outside. This reduces the voltage that the panel can generate and lowers its efficiency. At that point for every degree increase in temperature above 77 degrees a solar panel loses efficiency by the rate of its temperature coefficient. In fact solar panel output begins to fall if the temperature rises above 77 degrees fahrenheit 25 degrees celsius.