Commercial Solar Panel Efficiency
Selecting the appropriate solar panels involves understanding the amount of energy you need them to produce. Essentially, it boils down to aligning their energy output with your requirements.
Efficient solar panels may produce as much power as their rated capacity. The actual efficiency of many commercial solar panels ranges from 17% – 20%.
As more and more people adopt the use of commercial solar panels, their efficiency is being taken into consideration more. The more efficient your solar panels are, the more power they produce over their lifetime.
Climate
The climatic conditions where your building is located affect the efficiency of your solar panels. How much power your solar panels produce depends on the availability and intensity of sunshine.
If you live in an area that enjoys more days of sunshine in a year, your solar panels will be more efficient. They will produce more power than solar panels installed in a region with low sunshine.
Condition of your solar panels
Solar panels get less efficient the older they get. Once installed, solar panels lose 20% of their efficiency in the first 10-15 years. Over the remainder of their lifetime, they will lose the remaining 80% which marks the end of their usefulness and marks the need to replace them.
Additionally, for their enhanced efficiency, solar panels need to be kept clean for proper absorption of sunlight. They also need to be checked regularly to confirm that their wires, inverters, and components are in proper working condition.
Installation
How your solar panels are installed also affects how efficient they are. Always have a pro install your solar panels. Proper installation will ensure that your panels are properly angled on the roof.
The right angle ensures that the sun hits your panels appropriately. Consequently, your panels produce power efficiently.
Temperature
The temperature around your solar panels affects their efficiency. The higher the temperature, the lower their efficiency. The lower the temperature around the solar panels, the higher their output and their efficiency.
When your solar panels are too close to the ground, the high temperature on the ground reduces their efficiency. When they are installed higher and farther away from the ground it gets cool. Consequently, this enhances their efficiency and, they produce more power.
Pitch of the roof
The angle of the roof determines the efficiency of the solar panels installed. The sun will hit your solar panels based on the angle of the roof. This determines how much power the solar panels will produce as the day progresses.
Depending on the angle of your roof, the sun may hit the solar panels differently at different times of day. If the sun hits the roof when it’s weak, in the morning and evening, you will have low energy from your solar panels. If the sun hits the panels at its most intense, at noon, your panels will be more efficient.
Shading
When solar panels are shaded, their efficiency lowers. Whether your panels will be shaded should be considered at installation. The panels should then be installed on part of the roof without shading, and that allows maximum efficiency of the solar panels.
Why should you consider solar panel efficiency when installing solar panels
Increase total energy output
More efficient solar panels produce more energy. Thus, over the lifetime of the solar panel, you will have generated more power from more efficient solar panels than from less efficient solar panels.
Daily output capacity
As the sun’s intensity rises, the output from your solar panel system increases. High-efficiency solar panels have a higher output than low-efficiency solar panels at lower sunshine intensity. By the end of the day, you will have generated more power from high-efficiency solar panels.
Return on investment
Installing solar is an investment. You can get a quicker return on your investment if you install high-efficiency solar panels. The higher output from your solar panels, the more savings you make on your electricity bill. Consequently, the quicker you make your investment in solar panels back.
Choose the right solar panels
By considering the efficiency of solar panels, you can choose the right solar panels for your home or business premises.
High-efficiency solar panels have higher output to sufficiently power your home or business premises.
How to increase the efficiency of a solar panel
Buy more efficient solar panels
Solar panel efficiency has risen over the last few years as production technology develops. Thus, when you purchase solar panels, buy high-efficiency solar panels. It is likely that they will be more expensive than lower-efficiency panels. However, they will have a higher output level.
Proper installation
First, ensure that you have a pro install your solar panels for you.
Secondly, your solar panels should be installed on a part of the roof or the land without shade. Shading affects how much power a solar panel can produce. Depending on your installation, a single panel can affect the productivity and efficiency of your whole solar panel system.
Monitor your solar system output
When you install solar panels, also install a monitoring system. With a monitoring system, you can see the productivity of your system. You can easily identify when productivity decreases and have the panels repaired to keep them producing efficiently.
Keep your solar panels clean
Clean your solar panels to ensure that they maintain their productive efficiency. A layer of dirt on the PV cells lowers the efficiency of solar panels by about 5%.
Use this free tool
Gosolarquotes.com is a free tool that connects you to professional solar installers.
Purchasing solar panels from accredited installers ensures that you save on the cost of purchase and installation of solar panels. It also provides that your solar panels are well-installed to maximize output levels. Thus, enhancing their efficiency.
Indicate your location at the top of the tool. Then, fill out the subsequent form to provide details on your solar project.
Your information is then sent to pro installers.
You will then receive three quotes from which you can pick a professional installer for your solar project.
FAQ's
Depending on the climatic conditions of where you leave and how much it costs to clean your solar panels, you can do it once a year. If you have regular rainfall, much of the dust on the panels is washed away. In places with low rainfall, more dust accumulates which lowers the efficiency of the panel if it’s not cleaned.
Besides cleaning, solar panels require little maintenance.
Solar panel efficiency ratings are ratings that indicate how much of the sun that falls on the solar panels is converted into electricity. Depending on the manufacturer and their production technology, some solar panels may be low or highly rated.
High-efficiency solar panels have a rating of up to 40% and will be more expensive. You can purchase solar panels rated at 18%-21%. Low-efficiency solar panels are rated 11-15%.
Solar panels are durable. Depending on the manufacturer, solar panels last 20-25 years. For most solar panels, you can recover your investment in 5-7 years. For the remainder of the solar panel’s life, you can enjoy free electricity.
The efficiency of a solar panel decreases as it ages. It loses 20% of its efficiency in 10 years. After 25 years, you have to replace your solar panels as their efficiency has reduced to 0%.
