Do solar panels still work on cloudy days?

Yes. Although the clouds are thicker on cloudy days, which can partially block the sunlight, the light on cloudy days is mainly the diffuse light produced when the sunlight passes through the clouds, although the light intensity of this light is lower, and its efficiency is not as good as that of a sunny day, but after a long period of time, the amount of electricity generated is still considerable.

Factors affecting solar panel power generation on cloudy days

Cloud thickness and type: clouds can be categorized into stratocumulus clouds, rain clouds, stratocumulus clouds, etc., the impact of different clouds on the solar system power generation is also different.

Layered clouds: mainly composed of small water droplets, the thickness of layered clouds is generally between 400-500 meters, and the maintenance time is not long, the solar panel power generation efficiency and sunny day difference is small.

Rain layer clouds, laminar cumulus clouds: cloud thickness can reach thousands of meters, the degree of sunlight shading is very high, at this time, the solar panel power generation efficiency is low.

Altitude: As the altitude rises, the cloud cover is thin, the degree of sunlight weakening is reduced, and the solar panel power generation efficiency will be improved. And the terrain is high, the sunlight relay path is short, the intensity of light on cloudy days will also increase, solar panel power generation efficiency will also increase.

How to improve the efficiency of solar power system on cloudy days

Use of high-efficiency solar panels: high-efficiency solar panels mainly include polycrystalline silicon solar panels and monocrystalline silicon solar panels. Polycrystalline silicon solar panels have high efficiency, can be used for solar streetlights, solar lawn lights, solar power systems. Monocrystalline silicon solar panels have high efficiency and stable power generation performance, widely used in a variety of solar power systems.

Increase the coverage area of solar panels: Generally speaking, the larger the coverage area of solar panels, the more sunlight is used for power generation, the more power generation efficiency, but the corresponding cost will also be more. Therefore, in order to increase the efficiency of solar panels to consider all aspects of the factors, choose the most appropriate program.

Adding solar collectors: By adding solar collectors on Top of the solar panels, the energy utilization efficiency of the whole system can be further improved, but it is mainly suitable for providing hot water or heating for households or industries.

Summarize

solar panels can generate electricity on cloudy days, the efficiency may be reduced. Because of the impact of solar panels cloudy day power generation efficiency of many factors, comprehensive consideration of all factors, can better improve the power generation efficiency of solar panels.