Yuma Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Yuma, Arizona
Lattitude: 32.599
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.7 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 8.7 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 8.7 hours per day
Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Yuma 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 Yuma, Arizona.
Knowing that the latitude of Yuma is 32.6 can be helpful for understanding total sunlight hour variance. As you approach the equator latitude approaches zero. The closer the latitude is to zero, the more consistent the daily sunlight hours are throughout the year. Total sunlight hour consistency simply makes planning for your solar power needs easier, but it is certainly not a requirement.
Depending on your output needs, to get more out of your solar panels you can either upgrade your technology, buy more panels, or buy different tracking type panels. A fixed solar panel remains fixed at one angle throughout the year. A 1-axis panel will produce more output because it follows the path of the sun from sunrise to sunset to maximize sun exposure. Even more productive is a 2-axis panel that not only follows the sun's path throughout the day, but also accounts for the more subtle sun changes throughout the year with the different seasons.
Looking at latitude, average peak sun hours and various data can obviously help when planning for your solar power needs. The one thing you can never fully account for is changing weather. Storms, rain, cloud coverage all have an impact on solar panel capabilities.
By taking the latitude of Yuma one can get a close estimate of the amount of average peak sun hours per day for the geographical area. It varies with technology and the type of solar panel mount you use, but for a fixed mount solar panel in Yuma one can expect close to 6.7 average peak sun hours per day. With a 1-axis tracking mount you would get 8.7 hours per day, and 8.7 hours per day with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.
Helpful & Interesting
Can solar energy be stored and used at night?
If power is needed at night or on those winter days, energy can be conserved by utilizing a utility grid or a battery bank. The utility grid can be used simultaneously with solar power and the battery bank can convert solar energy into electricity throughout the day to be stored for later use.