Briggsdale Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Briggsdale, Colorado
Lattitude: 40.6347
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.4 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.1 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.5 hours per day
Looking at the average peak sunlight hours in Briggsdale 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 Briggsdale, Colorado.
If you’re using a fixed axis and fixed tilt solar panel, the ideal angle of the panel mount should be set at an angle equal to or close to the latitude of the location of the panel. Latitude is a valuable measurement to use when figuring how many daylight hours and the angle of the sun in the sky for your location. Since at locations with a higher latitude the sun will find itself at more variable angles in the sky throughout the year it is important to set the angle of the panel correctly and efficiently capture more peak sun hours. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun will be at lower angles in the Southern sky in the winter, and higher angles during the summer months, so the angle of the panel is crucial when trying to maximize output.
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.
Although weather predicting technology has greatly evolved over time, it is still a rather unpredictable factor that will affect the amount of peak sun hours your solar power system will receive. Cloudy days for example will usually have lower peak sun hours that a clear sunny day. And areas that usually have more average sunny days per year will probably have higher peak sun hours that areas that are often overcast or stormy.
Since we know the latitude of Briggsdale we can take the average amount of total sunlight hours and estimate that with a fixed solar panel there would be an average of 5.4 peak sun hours per day. 7.1 hours per day with a 1-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset, and 7.5 hours with a 2-axis tracking mount that tracks the sun everywhere in the sky.
Helpful & Interesting
How many kWh are produced by a solar panel?
Each solar panel system is different, so to give you the best idea of just how much electricity can be generated, let’s take a look at the facts for average domestic solar panel systems: Domestic systems tend to range from 1 kilowatt (kW) to 5kW in size. A typical 1 kW system can produce roughly 850kW units per year, a 2kW system would create around 1,700kW units and a 5kW system would create 4,500kW units. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that a typical 3-bedroom house in the UK would use just over 3,000kW units in a year. So, in theory a 4kW or 5kW system would cover your entire electricity requirement. However, the Feed-in Tariff pays the highest rates for systems smaller than 4kW.