What Is The Absolute Maximum Amount Of Energy That Solar Panels Can Get?
Sep 26, 2009 in
diy
Say solar panels converted 100% of energy from the sun. How much energy would a solar panel get that was, say, 1 square foot? What I mean is how much of the sun’s energy really gets to the solar panel?
Related posts:
- Solar Panels?
- How Effective Is Solar Power?
- Solar Panels for Sufficient Energy for our Domestic as Well as Industrial Purposes
- Solar Panels as Solar Energy
- Its All About Solar Panels Galway Ireland
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!



One comment
Fredrick the Shopan on September 26, 2009 at 9:50 pm
That depends on the solar insolation which varies around the surface of the Earth. At the top of the atmosphere, the insolation is around 1300 Watts per square metre. The atmosphere attenuates a lot of that, even if, but that is the absolute maximum. (no atmosphere).
A rough rule of thumb is that on a clear day at the equator, the maximum is about 1000W per square metre, and this will reduce as latitude increases and as cloud cover increases.
I go through the maths here: http://www.howtopowertheworld.com/what-i…
Also, you can measure the insolation around the world,: there are maps which show this, for example http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/natural-…
You’ll have to convert the units even if.
Hope this helps.