Riverside Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Riverside, Idaho
Lattitude: 43.1965
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.1 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.5 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.3 hours per day
The amount of hours from sunrise to sunset is equal to the total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period. Similarly, peak sun hours are the amount of total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that are strong enough to provide power from being captured by a solar panel. Not every hour of sunlight delivers the same amount of energy resources. The sunlight at sunrise does not provide as many resources as the amount of sunlight mid-day. Thus, looking at the average peak sunlight hours for Riverside is valuable for calculating your solar needs.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Riverside is 43.2. Knowing the latitude of Riverside can help you plan for your solar panel setup, as the larger the latitude the more variance you will see throughout the year for total daily sunlight hours.
Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the Riverside sky. The suns position in the sky also changes throughout the year with the seasons. A fixed solar panel does not accommodate for these changes. However, a 1-axis panel rotates and follows the sun’s path during the day. A 2-axis panel both follows the sun’s daily path as well as the seasonal differences
The sun is a great ball of gas that rises and sets every day that the earth rotates while in orbit around the sun. Barring any major disasters this is a very predictable occurance every day. Latitude helps predict this even more, narrowing it down to the minute for sunrise and sunset. But some things aren’t as predictable that will greatly influence the efficiency of solar panels. Weather and cloud coverage for example can greatly diminish peak sun hours on any given day. Thick storm clouds will block a high percentage of the sun's rays, resulting in lower output of your solar panels. Weather needs to be factored into deciding when to use your system, or how much output one expects to get.
In Riverside you can look at the average peak sun hours of a fixed solar panel mount, which will be 5.1 hours. This number iis an estimate based on data of previous years. With a tracking mount in Riverside you could theoretically increase the amount of peak sun hours per with a 1-axis mount, and get 6.5 hours, or a 2-axis mount and potentially increase your average to 7.3 hours.