4 ms·
out of direct sunlight, solar panels can produce a 3rd of their max output from ambient. This is only during the day. Ambient light however, cannot travel even
by real-dino 5y ago
out of direct sunlight, solar panels can produce a 3rd of their max output from ambient. This is only during the day.
Ambient light however, cannot travel even a km, as soon as the sun stops hitting that part of the earth, the output drops to zero.
This is despite the human eye being able to see.
- andi999 5y agoWhy not put them on the homes roof and get 3 times more harvest.
- jacquesm 5y agoBecause the math doesn't work out, see my other comment.
- jacquesm 5y agoThat's a misinterpretation of the data. The incident radiation is on the order of 100 W / square meter (10K Lux max, and probably much less depending on local conditions) from ambient (versus about 1KW / square meter for direct sunlight, 120K Lux), the panels then extract about 10% of that, so 10 W give or take for a panel area that would produce 250 to 300W when exposed to full sunlight. Ambient light tends to be reflected more than direct sunlight due to the percentage of the photons arriving at an angle < 45 degrees relative to the plane, which means they'll very likely bounce off. This is why it isn't cost effective to put solar panels facing North on a roof, and panels facing East or West will only be producing power for a small part of the day.