Nulato Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Nulato, Alaska
Lattitude: 64.7026
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 3.4 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.5 hours per day
The average amount of peak sun hours in a day is a different and more useful number as it relates to solar panels than total sun hours. Total sun hours are exactly what you would expect; the total amount of hours that the sun is out during a 24 hour period. Peak sun hours, on the other hand, are the total number of hours in a day where the sunshine is strong enough to to be absorbed and used by solar panels. Sunlight early in the morning or late at night is often not strong enough to count toward peak sun hours. Because of this, total sun hours will always be more than peak sun hours. Looking at the average peak sun hours in Nulato throughout the year can help you better estimate the amount of solar panels you will need to power your business or home.
Sunlight hits the earth directly at the equator. This is why the equator has a latitude of zero degrees. The latitude of Nulato is 64.7. Knowing the latitude of Nulato 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.
The sun moves through the sky during the day, and changes positions in the sky throughout the year as the seasons change. A fixed solar panel remains fixed in position during this movement. So, although it is effective in capturing sunlight, a 1-axis or 2-axis panel can be more efficient. A 1-axis panel tracks the sun's movement throughout the day from sunrise to sunset. In addition to that, the 2-axis panel also accounts for the movement throughout the year.
Peak sun hours are greatly affected by weather patterns. Cloud coverage is a huge factor in peak sun hours per day because heavy cloud coverage will diminish the power of the solar insolation. You can use historical climate data to estimate average cloud and weather coverage, but it will obviously vary slightly from year to year.
The average daily peak sunlight hours in Nulato, Alaska is 3.4 hours. Use this number when trying to calculate your solar needs in Nulato. As you can see above, if you were to use a 1-Axis or 2-Axis panel then the daily average would increase to 4 hour and 4.5 hours, respectively.
Helpful & Interesting
Is solar power clean?
Workers install solar panels in California. Although solar energy is a clean alternative to fossil fuels, making the panels themselves can have a negative environmental impact. As the world seeks cleaner power, solar energy capacity has increased sixfold in the past five years.