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Solar Through the Seasons: Why Solar Panels Are Effective All Year Round


Autumn is here and with winter quickly approaching solar energy will be scarce, right? Wrong. While many people think the change of seasons is a major downside to using solar panels, it is not a relevant concern. There are factors that come along with the seasons that could slightly impact the amount of light absorbed by panels, but luckily a major function is the ability to store energy for when its needed. Being aware of how solar panels function through all weather, sun positions, and electricity usage levels can help you be confident in your homes ability to rely on solar energy.


Colder months often mean less sun — shorter days and inclement weather — but they also can mean an increase of electricity for the average home. With the use of heat and more people staying home in general, this should mean that a house would not be getting enough energy from its solar panels. Good news, your solar panels can very easily make it through what feels like a long, harsh winter. Let’s get the main misconception of panels during cold months out of the way, they harness energy through the sun’s rays, not heat produced by the sun so the temperature individually has no negative effect on energy production. In fact, cold weather can allow the suns energy to be harness more efficiently. This means that despite the decrease in actual daylight hours, energy production is not hindered at all.


For many parts of the US, October through March and even later into spring can bring weather like hail, snow and so forth. While an object in general that is physically covering the panels, not allowing sunlight to reach is a problem, it is not as consistent of an issue with snowfall as one might think. The presence of a light snowfall will still allow sunlight to sneak through to the panels, so any kind of early winter dusting, some frost in the early morning, or other thin weather related surface coverings will not make a large enough difference to diminish the capacity to obtain energy that modern solar panels have. What if you live in the more northern regions where cold months means constant heavy snowfall? Luckily, solar panels are designed to be on an angle directed towards the best possible exposure to the suns light which means snow is most likely going to slide right off of the smooth surface. In some more extreme cases where rooftops can be covered in multiple feet of snow, yes, it may be less likely to easily remove itself, but panels are designed to store energy and efficiently disperse it to the household as needed by the residents, allowing a less wasteful and long term energy source that will be there for you on rainy (or snowy) day. When discussing the angle placement of panels, it is also important to keep in mind that as the sun changes its path in the sky, the panels will most likely need to be adjusted even just slightly to ensure optimal energy absorption all year round. Solar energy is generally very low maintenance for your home, but to provide the best possible result, it is recommended to have professional maintenance and adjustments.


Discussing these very realistic and relevant circumstances is ideal when beginning to consider the installation of solar panels for your home. While a more sustainable and positive long-term-economical choice for energy can be an easy switch to make, geographical factors will definitely contribute in some way to ones’ personal relationship with solar energy. After all, mother nature can be unpredictable and harsh, but it is also providing us with a powerful and constant source of energy that allows us as humans to keep it healthy and safe in return.





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Solar Opportunities is a Full-Service Solar Consultation, Design and Install company services Pennsylvania. Our cutting edge design platform enables inquiring minds to access all the information they need to know in a clear, transparent fashion in a short amount of time. Systems can be designed from satellite imagery for residential, commercial and agricultural properties. For more information, visit us at https://www.solaropportunitiesllc.com, email us at info@solaropportunities.com or call us at 570-637-6384.

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