Many people here in Tampa, Florida are considering solar panels for energy generation. It just makes sense that, in a sunny climate where winter temperatures are often around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, one might be able to get quite a bit of energy generation from solar panels. Consulting a roofing company Tampa and other sources, we found that the answer to solar panel feasibility by the site has changed over the last several years since the technology behind solar panels continues to improve.

Traditional Solar Panels

Most of the solar panels in production today don’t do well in shade. Conversely, solar panels do much better with cloudy conditions than they did in the past. It is quite amazing the amount of energy one can produce on a cloudy day from the current crop of solar panels. At the least, Clean Technica states that solar panels produce 10 to 25 percent of the panel’s rating on a cloudy day. This author has solar panels for RVing that produce far more than 25 percent of the panel rating on cloudy days.

Greentumble is reporting that new solar panels made with solar cells called “super black” will make the differential between your solar energy harvest on sunny days versus cloudy days almost non-existent. Those new panels will be out in the next few years.

Sadly, shading is a very different animal. Up until recently, most solar panels suffered from shading by drastic reductions in energy output. The reason is in how many solar panels are wired together. If just a few portions of a panel are shaded, most panels will no longer output much of any energy. It is similar to the Christmas light phenomena, where one light out in the string renders the entire string of lights useless.

New Technology Helps Solve Shading Energy Loss

Bypass Diodes: Since many people have trees, gables, chimneys and other houses that may cover their solar panels in shade at times, the solar industry has responded with a new type of panel designed to maintain a higher level of output if a portion of the panel is in shade. These new panels use bypass diodes between the solar cells in order to bypass the cells that are in shading, allowing the energy from the cells that are in the sun to still output from the panel. This new technology also eliminates the problem that Renew Magazine reported on in which some of the older styles of panels actually degrade over time from repeatedly having to deal with partial shading. Older style panels in partial shade tend to overwork the solar cells that are in the sun.

Micro-Inverters: Another new technology in the newer crop of solar panels that helps glean more energy in partial shading conditions is a micro-inverter. This is a device that is installed in each solar panel and allows each panel to be its own energy producer, irrespective of other panels that might be in partial or complete shade. The idea with both of these two technologies is to get the full output of the solar cells that are in sun out through the panels without straining the system.

Examine Your Roof

Irrespective of new technology, if you have a roof that is in shade most of the year, you will need to either find another spot for the panels – like in your yard, on your garage or over the carport. These new anti-shading technologies rely upon times during the day when the panels are at least in partial sun. You will need to determine how much sun your roof is receiving and what times of the day and times of the year that you have sun versus shade in order to know if solar is cost-effective for your situation.

For many homeowners, it is not feasible to examine your roof for shade or sun every two hours throughout the year. Instead, your roofing company Tampa or solar panel retailer will likely provide you analysis of sun versus shading at your site. You can also consult the shading analysis tools found on the PV Resources website.

If you have partial shading on your roof, don’t despair. New technology is making solar panels work much more efficiently in partial shading. A site analysis is the only proper means of determining your solar panel placement options