Solar water heaters offer an environmentally friendly and economically effective alternative to heating water in the home. On cloudy days, though, the average solar panels do not work as efficiently as they do on sunny days and the amount, or temperature, of hot water in your home will be affected.
Do not worry about the occasional cloudy day
If there is an occasional cloudy day following some sunny days, there will be enough residual solar radiation present in the atmosphere to heat the water in your solar heater. The temperature that the water will achieve will be lower than that during sunny days, though. On the occasional cloudy day, most solar panels are able to generate up to a quarter of their usual power. This does depend on how thick the cloud cover is. If the cloudy days persist, there will not be enough radiation to heat up the water.
Clouds may even be an advantage
Occasionally, if there are scattered clouds, it is possible for the sun's power to be magnified by the very edge of one of the clouds. This will boost the power generated by the solar panels attached to your solar water heater.
Solar panels actually work better in environments that are not always exposed to extremely hot, direct sunlight. Some days that have scattered clouds may actually be advantageous to the overall working of your solar heater.
Maximising the power of the sun
There are some solar panels on the market that are designed to capture a greater range of energy from the sun than the average solar panel. Solar water heaters using these panels will be able to produce hotter water on cloudy days. You may be able to increase the possibility of your solar water heater operating efficiently on cloudy days by using these solar panels.
Use solar power together with electricity
A sure fire way to ensure that you have a more environmentally friendly supply of water that is hot enough is to use both solar power and electricity.
A solar water heater can either be linked up to work with your existing electric geyser, or there will be an electrical element in the storage tank of the heater, which will switch on when there is not enough solar power to heat the water. For more information, talk to a local solar energy professional such as Solar Repairs. They'll be able to answer all of your questions.
Share26 April 2016
Hello! Welcome to my blog! My name is Julie and I live in a large house in the suburbs of Perth, Australia. My husband and I moved into our current home a couple of years ago and since then we have been working to transform it into our dream place. The house itself is lovely, but the interior looked like something from the 1970s. When we started our renovation project we didn't have a clue what we were doing. However, with each job we completed and each mistake we made, we learnt a new skill. I decided I would like to share what we have learnt here.