HOW DO SOLAR PANEL WORK

siamsengtech
Aug 30, 2023
2 min read

Trouble getting good output from your solar panels?

Well, it could be the weather, the orientation of the panels, the latitude you're at, etc.

Most places in Kenya are not far off the Equator - zero degrees, and as such, any inclination of the solar panels at an angle above 10 degrees, is not optimal.

In fact, in Kenya, solar panels will work best throughout the year if they're mounted flat. But to allow rainwater not to stagnate on the panel and dust and debris not to settle on the panels, they're installed at an incline that should not exceed 10 degrees - just enough to allow rainwater, dust, and debris, to slide down the panel.

In Kenya, if you mount the solar panels on a high-pitch roof, you're bound not to get optimal performance from your solar panels.

In fact, you're bound to hate solar, just because you've installed solar panels at a high pitch that's not optimal at the Equator and the areas near the Equator.

Kenya lies between latitudes 4 1/2ºN and 4 1/2ºS. Hence, the reason any solar panels installed at an incline that's above 10 degrees from horizontal will NOT give you optimal output.

However, if you have a high-pitched roof, you don't pull down the roof. Instead, go for a ground mount.

Rule of thumb/ Well established principle: Solar panels work best when the rays of the sun hit the panel perpendicular to the plane of the solar panel.

Now, in the present month of June, it's also worth noting that the sun is far off North headed to the Tropic of Cancer - 23 1/2ºN, and the intermittent clouds and sunshine we're experiencing now are not making the situation any better, and as such, most of the panels in Kenya are not getting optimal sunshine at the present.

It will be at worst on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - June Solstice. Winter Solstice down South, Summer Solstice up in the North.

No need to sulk, though, tough times don't last. Do they? By the time we get to September 23, 2023, it will be all crisp and shiny with the sun right above the Equator - the Southward Equinox, so they call it.

I.e. the equinox that happens at the Equator when the sun is headed south towards the Tropic of Capricorn - 23 1/2ºS.

The best time for solar in Kenya is during the equinoxes, when the sun is right above the Equator.

That is the Northward Equinox, which happens around the 21st of March as the sun heads North towards the Tropic of Cancer - 23 1/2ºN, and the Southward Equinox which happens around the 23rd of September, with the sun headed South towards the Tropic of Capricorn - 23 1/2ºS.

Yeah. In the world of Solar, all that Geography about latitudes, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, Solstices, Equinoxes, and what have you, is not something to assume.

In the world of solar, the position of the sun in the sky is a lot of serious business.

Siams Engineering and Technology Ltd, Deal with Quality, Genuine products and professional Services on solar and wind power and Energy in Kenya contact 𝐒𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲