Hey everyone! I'm trying to figure out how to accurately calculate my daily solar energy production, especially since I'm looking to minimize the size of my battery bank for a future solar system. Here are some details: In my location, I get about 156 sunny days per year. The longest month sees around 14 hours and 42 minutes of sunlight, while the shortest has about 9 hours and 36 minutes. My peak sun hours range from a maximum of 6.04 to a minimum of 3.13. Any tips or resources would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
If you're interested, I have a system that calculates solar positioning throughout the year. It can help determine the best placement for your panels as well, which can really improve efficiency! Let me know if you want to give it a shot.
Check out PVWatts! It's an awesome calculator that many find super accurate. You can input your location, and it will even adjust for cloud cover. I've used it, and it matched my actual output really well! Also, typically in the continental US during peak summer, you can expect about 3 to 6 sun hours a day, so for a 5kW system, you could see around 30 kWh. But definitely use that site for specifics related to your area!
For sure! Just remember, it does give a general estimate, so plug in your actual local data for the best results.
I’ve used PVWatts too, and I can vouch for its accuracy. They pull weather data from a nearby station you can choose, which helps a lot with realistic modeling. My results were off by just a few percent! It's really helpful for planning your solar setup.
What a gold mine!