Oct 1: solar pool panels still dishing the BTUs

[phantom power]

So it's October, and the water in my pool is still 90F. More precisely, it's 85F in the morning, and the panels can add 5F with some (useful) daylight to spare.

At this point, I'm predicting it should still be very swimmable on Nov 1. But nights are getting longer, the sun's angle is getting lower and the air temps are getting cooler (remarkable, how these are all connected).

It was interesting to see the effects of a couple consecutive days of cloudy weather during monsoon. By the 2nd day, pool temperature was down to 82F in the morning. That was in August.

[Redlo Nosrep]

1. Solar in the PNW?

I'd love to read a website or book titled something like "Solar For Dummies Who Live in the PNW," with step-by-step instructions on what to buy and how to set it up for real-world results like yours when you live under cloud cover for about nine months of the year like I do. (Maybe I should just wait a little longer for the northern march of climate change to shoo those clouds away, as we're currently experiencing the driest period for this time of the year ever, and I'm psychologically unfit to deal with all this sunshine and blue skies for weeks in a row.)

Congrats on your successful solar set-up!

[kestrel91316]

2. Solar works just fine in cloudy areas. Solar PV shows only a tiny drop in output with clouds. Why

do you think it's so successful in GERMANY, of all places?

Solar water heating might or might not have the same diminished efficiency, but there's really nowhere on earth where some sort of solar power won't work.

[NickB79]

3. Tiny drop? You sure about that?

http://www.sunfarmers.com/do-solar-panels-work-when-its-cloudy

If asked the question, Do solar panels work when it's cloudy?, the average person would no doubt guess that, well, no, how can they when there's no sunshine for them to work with?

Actually, that answer is partially true, in that solar panels aren't as efficient in cloudy conditions as during bright, sunny days. In fact, the production of solar panels is reduced by at least 50 percent on cloudy days, and may even by down to just 5 to 10 percent of what they can produce on sunny days.

That said, they're still a great investment, and I'm currently trying to save up money to install a few on my home here in the Upper Midwest, but let's not oversell their potential. The reason they're so successful in Germany is that the German government is smart enough to fund renewable buildout through tax incentives and credits and install millions of panels throughout their country, not because of Germany's climate. Germany's average solar panel efficiency is only 9.5%, for example, far below that you'd find in a sunnier climate. Many things will affect solar output, including clouds, shade from nearby trees, whether or not the system has a tracker to rotate the panels to follow the sun throughout the day, etc.

[Redlo Nosrep]

4. Hmmm...

Thanks, NickB, for that information that reinforces what my common sense was telling me.

But then I found an Ezine article that tweaked my interest with this assertion:

Excerpt: "Believe it or not, most of the Northwest receives about 70% of the sunlight that Los Angeles does annually. This is more than enough sunlight to make your investment in solar worthwhile. Most people who have established solar panels in their homes and workplaces in the Northwest are satisfied and suggest it for people who are still on the fence about whether or not to install solar panels.

Germany is the world's leader in solar power. But did you know that they actually receive less sunlight than the Pacific Northwest? Most of the country has a higher latitude than that of the Puget Sound, but over 50% of the world's solar energy is being produced there."

http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Power-in-the-Pacific-Northwest---The-Myths-and-the-Facts&id=4781021

However, I still need that "Dummies" book...

[pscot]

5. They must be including Spokane

in the Pacific Northwest.