Matanuska Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Matanuska, Alaska
Lattitude: 61.5419
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 3.1 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 3.5 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.1 hours per day
When trying to calculate your solar power needs there are a variety of factors to consider. Panel type and location, electricity needs, number of panels needed etc. One key to figuring out the math is factoring in the average peak sunlight hours in a day. Unlike total sunlight hours, peak sunlight hours are only when the sun is strong enough to power your solar panel. Using this number can help determine your needs to power your home or business in Matanuska, Alaska.
Although you can easily predict sunrise and sunset hours each day to the minute, looking at latitude can help with your solar planning. The closer you get to the equator the closer your latitude gets to zero. Sunlight hours on the equator are consistent throughout the entire year. Places further from the equator can have large variance in daily sunlight. For example higher latitudes can have very long summer days with lots of sunlight and very dark winters. The latitude of Matanuska is 61.5.
You will notice that the average peak sun hours for Matanuska 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.
Since we know the latitude of Matanuska we can take the average amount of total sunlight hours and estimate that with a fixed solar panel there would be an average of 3.1 peak sun hours per day. 3.5 hours per day with a 1-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset, and 5.1 hours with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.