Mount Holly Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Mount Holly, North Carolina
Lattitude: 35.3079
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.1 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.4 hours per day
Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Mount Holly is a valuable number for determining your solar power setup. Peak sunlight hours are only the hours a day in which the sunlight is strong enough for the solar panels to do their job. Not every hour of sunlight was created equal. For example, solar panels do not provide much use during early sunrise and sunset, and therefore you should not look at total hours of sunlight in a day, but instead focus on peak sunlight hours. Using this number will provide a much better estimate of your needs for setting up panels in Mount Holly, North Carolina.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Mount Holly is 35.3. Knowing the latitude of Mount Holly 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 Mount Holly 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
There are more variables than latitude that can change average peak sun hours. Weather patterns and geography will influence solar insolation that reaches your system. Thick grey storm clouds for example will block out a lot of the sun to the point where there may be no peak sun hours in the middle of the day when the sun is usually very powerful. Trees and mountains can deflect the sunlight, so be sure your solar panel is selectively placed.
In Mount Holly the average yearly peak sun hours for a fixed tilt non-tracking solar panel mount is 5. This is for a fixed panel mounted at an angle that is equal to the latitude of the location for the entire year. The amount of peak sun hours increases to 6.1 hours if you are using a 1-axis panel, and to 6.4 hours if you upgrade to a 2-axis solar panel.