Delta Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Delta, Pennsylvania
Lattitude: 39.7267
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 4.9 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.4 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 Delta 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 Delta is 39.7. Knowing the latitude of Delta 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.
Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the Delta sky. The suns position in the sky also changes throughout the year with the seasons. A fixed solar panel does not accommodate for these changes. However, a 1-axis panel rotates and follows the sun’s path during the day. A 2-axis panel both follows the sun’s daily path as well as the seasonal differences
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.
In Delta you can look at the average peak sun hours of a fixed solar panel mount, which will be 4 hours. This number iis an estimate based on data of previous years. With a tracking mount in Delta you could theoretically increase the amount of peak sun hours per with a 1-axis mount, and get 4.9 hours, or a 2-axis mount and potentially increase your average to 5.4 hours.