3 Easy Ways to Improve Your Solar Panel’s Performance

For any Golden, CO home with solar panels are huge energy savings and virtual independence from traditional electricity sources. On the other hand, it becomes a huge struggle for some homeowners and properties to maximize the solar energy absorption. Here are three easy ways to upgrade your solar panel’s performance without any invasive reconstructions and improvements.

Remove Shade

Shade removes the direct ray of sunlight that allows the photovoltaic panels to collect energy. Therefore, it’s essential to remove the shades immediately. Where possible, cut down tree branches, obstructions, and even dirt and grime that have grown on your panels. In doing so, you can redirect sunlight to your roof and get the most optimal energy generation possible.

Provide Necessary Maintenance

It is essential that you regularly maintain your solar panels to ensure that they are working as efficiently and effectively as possible. Regular maintenance will help you to produce more electricity and save you money on your electric bills. Check the surface area of the solar panel. The surface area of the panel should be kept clean as well as free of debris and dirt.

Anticipate Weather Changes

Solar panels produce more energy on sunny days and less on cloudy days.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, solar panels produce 20% less power on a cloudy day than they would on a sunny day. Therefore, it’s no surprise that solar panels in cloudy and rainy regions produce less energy for their properties.

CoolBlewSolar has an excellent technical guide to help you upgrade your solar panel’s performance.

Install a Solar Power Concentrator

Solar power concentrators allow you to maximize the power of your solar panels by concentrating solar light. These concentrators use mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large amount of sunlight onto a receiver. Using a tracking system, the concentrated light is captured, so that it falls on the solar panel for optimum efficiency. Ensuring that all available sunlight is used to generate electricity, it can save you additional money. An extra advantage of a solar power concentrator is it can efficiently store energy during the night.

Place Solar Panels at the Correct Angle

Solar panels installed in a south-facing location with the correct pitch will capture the most sunshine for maximum electricity production. Paying close attention to solar panel pitch is important as the slope of your solar panels helps keep them clean. Leaves, dust, and rain can impact solar energy output levels. The right pitch will help to reduce the impact of these power impediments.

Install a Backup Battery

Investing in a solar battery backup system allows you to use this stored energy at night or when outages occur due to storms. On days with overcast skies, you can also pull power from the batteries. Plus, a backup system allows you to reduce your house’s carbon footprint.

Reduce the Number of Devices

To use less electricity, don’t use or charge too many devices at one time. Depending on the output of your solar panel arrays and the amount of energy appliances and devices use, limit your use of devices simultaneously. For example, don’t run the dishwasher at the same time as you’re using the washing machine. If the room you’re in is bright and sunny, turn off the lights. This will help to maximize solar panel efficiency and eliminate low voltage problems in your house. (Continue reading here to learn more)

You can always count on us at Roper Roofing and Solar to provide you with the best installations of solar panels in Golden, CO. Contact us today to learn more about everything that we can do for you.