Ackerly Solar Power Information & Peak Sun Hours
Solar Green Energy Summary for Ackerly, Texas
Lattitude: 32.5251
Sunlight
Fixed Tilt Sunlight Hours: 5.4 hours per day
1-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 6.6 hours per day
2-Axis Tilt Sunlight Hours: 7.2 hours per day
The amount of hours from sunrise to sunset is equal to the total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period. Similarly, peak sun hours are the amount of total sunlight hours in a 24 hour period that are strong enough to provide power from being captured by a solar panel. Not every hour of sunlight delivers the same amount of energy resources. The sunlight at sunrise does not provide as many resources as the amount of sunlight mid-day. Thus, looking at the average peak sunlight hours for Ackerly is valuable for calculating your solar needs.
Knowing that the latitude of Ackerly is 32.5 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.
Throughout the day the sun obviously moves throughout the Ackerly 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
Climate in your geographical region is a major factor that will influence average peak sun hours per year. If you live in a region that does not have a lot of completely sunny days, then cloud coverage will greatly influence solar insolation on any given day. Mountains and trees may also contribute to lower solar insolation if they block the sun from your panels at any given point of the day.
We can take the latitude of Ackerly and use that number to know the amount of total sunlight hours in the region from sunlight to sunset and estimate that with a fixed solar panel, Ackerly will receive 5.4 average peak sun hours per day. This number can be increased to 6.6 hours by using a 1-axis tracking mount, or 7.2 hours from a 2-axis tracking mount.
Helpful & Interesting
Does Texas have solar power tax credits?
Texas net metering. Although Texas doesn't have a statewide net metering policy, many utilities in the state (including El Paso Electric, the City of Brenham, CPS Energy, and Green Mountain Energy) have policies that credit owners of solar energy systems for the electricity that their panels produce.