Balcony solar panels can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clear
not very much, especially during the winter, the best way to optimize panel production is by pointing it towards the sun most effectively, the farther north, or south, of the equator the less effective it is, the less directly it points towards the sun in general, the less power you make.
It might still produce a decent amount of power overall, through a reasonable period of time, but it’s probably WELL below what you could be making with an optimized install, especially one with solar tracking, granted some solar power is still better than no solar power, so you do get tradeoffs at the end of the day.
as another commenter said, there are solar power calculators out there, if you’re looking for rough figures, use them.
im pretty sure most of the will do a yearly breakout over the months? A really big reason to use them is to figure out maximum and minimum production throughout the year, so idk what calculator you’re using, but any good ones should be able to calculate that.
I’ve used PVwatts before, and it does spit out monthly data, though it can also bring in some more complex data, it’s a whole field of research, and it’s worth investing time into if you’re curious about it.
Hey thank you! I re-checked out PVwatts (the link was used ☺️I probably avoided it because you have to put your address in, I don’t want calls etc. Turns out the city is enough) it’s exactly what I needed, thanks!
it requires you to put in your address to locate your lat and long so it can properly calculate your energy production, especially throughout the year. It may still do some tracking on that, but it’s unlikely to be anything significant unless you have an account and money tied to it somehow.
But yes, a place close by you will work just as fine. Though you can expect some level of inaccuracy, it’s probably not that significant if you’re reasonably close.
In the Northern hemisphere, in Winter the Sun is at a low angle, so vertically oriented panels might produce more. As an example, I have a sunroom and at Winter’s Solstice the sunlight reaches about 3-4 meters into the room. At Summer’s Solstice there is no direct sunlight in the room, as the Sun is overhead.
Most older European homes don’t have A/C yet, so electrical costs are more during the winter months (that trend will change though I imagine)
I think the numbers @[email protected] was asking about involved power output, that of course depends on the size of your array, daily/monthly/yearly differences in weather, and all sorts of little nuances that’s hard to say without averaging out years worth of data.
This is really nice! This is the future!
I’d love to know how much they produce, especially during the winter/monthly.
not very much, especially during the winter, the best way to optimize panel production is by pointing it towards the sun most effectively, the farther north, or south, of the equator the less effective it is, the less directly it points towards the sun in general, the less power you make.
It might still produce a decent amount of power overall, through a reasonable period of time, but it’s probably WELL below what you could be making with an optimized install, especially one with solar tracking, granted some solar power is still better than no solar power, so you do get tradeoffs at the end of the day.
as another commenter said, there are solar power calculators out there, if you’re looking for rough figures, use them.
Thanks for the input, but I yet have to find a calculator that shows how much you generate per month and not only oer year!
im pretty sure most of the will do a yearly breakout over the months? A really big reason to use them is to figure out maximum and minimum production throughout the year, so idk what calculator you’re using, but any good ones should be able to calculate that.
I’ve used PVwatts before, and it does spit out monthly data, though it can also bring in some more complex data, it’s a whole field of research, and it’s worth investing time into if you’re curious about it.
Hey thank you! I re-checked out PVwatts (the link was used ☺️I probably avoided it because you have to put your address in, I don’t want calls etc. Turns out the city is enough) it’s exactly what I needed, thanks!
it requires you to put in your address to locate your lat and long so it can properly calculate your energy production, especially throughout the year. It may still do some tracking on that, but it’s unlikely to be anything significant unless you have an account and money tied to it somehow.
But yes, a place close by you will work just as fine. Though you can expect some level of inaccuracy, it’s probably not that significant if you’re reasonably close.
Yes and thanks again, there are soo many crap sites out there I just gave up!
In the Northern hemisphere, in Winter the Sun is at a low angle, so vertically oriented panels might produce more. As an example, I have a sunroom and at Winter’s Solstice the sunlight reaches about 3-4 meters into the room. At Summer’s Solstice there is no direct sunlight in the room, as the Sun is overhead.
Do you have any numbers :-) ?
I have a sunroom, what sort of numbers are you asking for? It’s a partly cloudy day, about 22C in the room, without heat. And about 7C outside.
Nice numbers <3
couple of things to note: