One of the common questions we are asked is Do Solar Panels work in the winter? which is a particularly important consideration for anyone looking at investing in a solar system here in the UK. The short answer is YES they do, however there are a number of factors that limit their performance. We'll summarise the two main ones below:
Shorter Days = Less Sun
We are all too aware of the gloomy, dark starts to our days throughout the winter, coupled with the miserably early, dark evenings. This reduction in daylight hours has a direct impact on the maximum available production of your solar panels.
The Angle of the Sun is lower
This ties in with point 1 above (and is actually the reason why the days are shorter). As we are in the Northern Hemisphere, we are actually leaning further away from the sun during the winter, meaning the sun hits us at different angle. This causes the suns rays to be more angled, and therefore more spread out. One other element to note is that the lower sun can cause greater shadowing from things like chimneys, trees or neighbouring buildings all of which reduce solar production.
Despite these restrictions, your solar will still produce throughout the winter and is in fact designed to work as efficiently as possible during these cold months. Picking the right type of solar panels coupled with Micro Inverters help to maximise solar production and limit the impacts from lower light levels such as shading. Our experts here at Solaren can guide you through the available products to ensure you have the best possible system installed for your roof.
The White Stuff......Having said all the above, there is one factor that will completely prevent the panels from producing, and that is being covered in a blanket of snow! Just don't be tempted to clean them off with a long broom. Let the sun do its own thing.
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