Do Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days and at Night?
Solar energy finds a way for human beings to do things in daily lives in a green, and sustainable way. In these days, more and more homes, businesses, and commercial buildings are investing in solar panel systems, to save the utility bill, cope with unexpected power outages, catastrophic events, or to form a renewable lifestyle, etc.
As we know, solar panels generate useable electricity by harnessing sunlight. But the sun doesn't shine brightly all the time. Then will solar panels still work? There are countries where cloudy and rainy climates are seen most of the year, like the UK. Does that mean solar panels don't make sense in areas with a cloudy climate?
If you're curious, read on. This article will be discussing the question and help you find out the answer. Besides, we will take you into more details about solar panels. Now let's get cracking.
What Are Solar Panels?
Solar panels are equipment that captures the sun's rays to generate electric energy.
In fact, a solar panel consists of an array of solar cells that are used to generate electricity through photovoltaic effect. A piece of solar panel usually can produce enough electricity to run one or two small appliances. If you string pieces of them together, they can even provide you with the juice to power an entire house.
How Do Solar Panels Work?
A solar panel absorbs sun's energy with its solar cells, and convert it into direct current electricity. It just brings so much convenience and benefits to life that an increasing number of homeowners around the globe are employing them for everyday electricity needs.
However, clouds can gather and sky gets dark when night falls. Will solar panels generate electricity as well on overcast days and at night?
Do Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days?
We can get sunburned even on a cloudy day. That proves solar radiation can filter through the clouds, however thick these clouds are.
In the same way, solar panels can still produce electricity on cloudy days, but you will see obvious effectiveness loss on them. During days with thick clouds, you can only expect the solar panels to produce approximately 10 to 20% of their output on a sunny, clear day. The specific figure can rest with the cloud coverage and quality of the solar panels.
Do Solar Panels Work at Night?
The short answer is yes. Technically, some solar panels do work with moonlight, due to the fact that moonlight is simply sunlight reflected off of the moon. However, the electric energy generated at night is extremely minimal, which actually, makes no sense.
Final Thoughts
Solar energy just benefits the modern era in such a wide range of fields. If you are going to dive into the world of solar power, head over to our website and explore more products that may interest you.
