Most people believe solar doesn’t work in winter. But nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, solar works the best in winter and generates optimum energy. To understand how this all works, you need to know how the solar system operates.
All this confusion roots in a common belief: Solar generates energy from the sun’s heat and temperature. But in reality, the panel absorbs energy from the sun’s light. So if the sunlight is hitting, the panel will generate energy.
Here is the simplest version of how solar panels works:
There are photons in sunlight. When that photon hits your panel, the electrons move and this creates electricity. In cooler environments, like in winter, the electrons will be at low energy. So when they are hit by the sunlight (high energy), a greater difference in the voltage creates more energy. This is the reason solar works better in winter.
Also in winter, the panels won’t reach the peak temperature. Because once it reaches, the performance drops.
What about snow?
Most places in the U.S. is cold. In fact, many of them are covered with ice for half of the year. So the question is solar works in the snow are pretty reasonable.
Solving this, the solar panels are carefully placed at a tilt of 30 to 45%. What it does is, it avoids the snow from accumulating on the solar panels. Also, solar glass is designed to accelerate the melting process. Even when the panels are partially covered with snow, the light can still pass through and generate power. Sometimes the snow in the ground even reflects on your solar panels causing it more efficient.
Also, some have questions about rainy days.
Even on rainy days, sunlight exists. As your panels need only the light, not the temperature, the output is pretty much unaffected. The light may not be as direct as the sunny days but it exists in an indirect form. And indirect sunlight can also produce electricity. Also, panels will work even in diffused lights. So even though dense clouds will reduce performance but it is not significant overall.
So you don’t need to fear winter, snow, or rain when installing solar. They work just fine or even better in winter or rainy days. So don’t believe in the lies out there who claim that the solar doesn’t work in winter. Instead, do your research and have a trusted source to verify the facts before taking a decision.
