Does Distance From The Sun Affect Solar Panels

However distance plays a.

Does distance from the sun affect solar panels.

Fortunately sunpower solar panels with a record breaking efficiency of more than 22 percent highest efficiency panels commercially available 1 use cells with a unique one of a kind design that capture a broader range of the sun s light including red and blue wavelengths. This is because light spreads out as soon as it leaves the source but the amount of light does not change. Hence the ideal angle for a solar panel is perpendicular to incoming sunlight. Sunlight is at its greatest intensity when it is incident directly upon a surface.

For example if 20 of the panel is shaded at a certain time of day the panel products 20 less energy than when it s in full sun. The role of distance the distance of the sun to an earthbound solar panel changes very little during the course of a year as the earth s orbit is nearly a perfect circle. In these conditions solar panels generate more power than when the sun is incident at indirect angles. The larger the distance between the light source and the solar cell the smaller amount of energy that will be produced.

While you can use solar panel trackers to keep them at the optimum angle at all times the costs and complications involved aren t worth it in most cases.