Solar Panel Efficiency On Rainy Days

Your solar panels performance and efficiency matters.

Solar panel efficiency on rainy days.

The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range. However south carolina summers are known to be unpredictable when it comes to weather. When you look at the usability of a solar panel on a cloudy or rainy day the more important factor is to know if the solar panels will produce sufficient power to run you house. Anyone who has gotten sunburned on a cloudy day knows that solar radiation penetrates clouds.

For that same reason solar panels can still produce electricity on cloudy days. If you live in south carolina you already know that the palmetto state is a great place for solar power. The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency. This claim is false.

On a rainy or cloudy day many of the appliances like fans or air conditioning may not be needed. This is an important question to ask as these weather conditions can affect your pv module energy production and as a result dampen the return on investment for your solar panels. Some critics of solar power say that solar panels don t produce electricity on cloudy days. Solar panels can still can produce 10 25 of their typical output on a cloudy day.

One minute the sun is shining the next there is a full on downpour. Factors that affect solar panel efficiency. But depending on the cloud cover and the quality of the solar panels efficiency can drop to anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of the energy output seen on a sunny day.