Winter Haven Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Winter Haven, Texas
Lattitude: 28.6197
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.5 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.3 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.6 hours per day
Peak sun hours is arguably the most important number to consider before installing your solar panels. Unlike total sun hours, peak sun hours are calculated by looking at the amount of sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that is strong enough to be absorb by a solar panel. One way to imagine peak sun hours is to think about a solar powered calculator you owned in school. If you covered the solar panel with your finger, or tried to use the calculator in the dark, the calculator would not work. As you slowly exposed the calculator to light the calculator would eventually turn on and be usable. The same is true with peak sun hours; these are the hours that your solar panels receive enough sunlight to work. Looking at the average peak sunlight hours of 5.5 per day can help you determine the amount of solar panels you need to install to power your home or business in Winter Haven, Texas.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Winter Haven is 28.6. Knowing the latitude of Winter Haven 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.
You will notice that the average peak sun hours for Winter Haven change based on the type of panel being used. The reason for this is quite simple. A fixed panel does exactly what it sounds like, remains fixed in one position at all times. A 1-axis and 2-axis panels have axis that allow them to rotate. The 1-axis rotates with the sun's daily east to west movement while a 2-axis also adjusts for seasonal changes.
The sunrise and sunset is very predictable every day, but things like cloud coverage and weather are less predictable and vary daily and annually. If a location that is usually very sunny experiences a huge increase in storms and cloud coverage in a given year than the average peak sun hours for that day or year will probably decrease. Tall objects such as trees and buildings can block out the sun during high solar insolation times, so be sure to strategically place your solar panels to get better efficiency.
The average daily peak sunlight hours in Winter Haven, Texas is 5.5 hours. Use this number when trying to calculate your solar needs in Winter Haven. As you can see above, if you were to use a 1-Axis or 2-Axis panel then the daily average would increase to 7.3 hour and 7.6 hours, respectively.