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RenewableSolarPower

439 bytes added, 19:22, 24 September 2013
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Let’s cut to the chase with a real worked example. Assume a boat moored in Montreal’s Old Port at 45.5 degrees N and 73.35 degrees W. The sun’s azimuth angle varies between 20 and 68 degrees from winter to summer. Assume 365 perfectly sunny days and solar panels that are horizontal on the boat deck and do not track the sun’s azimuth and east-to-west travel. The average available energy over a year is 3.40 kW/m²/day. At 16% solar-panel conversion efficiency, this is only 0.56 kW/m²/day. This is why renewable energy needs government subsidies, and why it is a supplement on a boat.
Montreal {| class="wikitable"|- Incident Solar Energy on Horizontal Surface (kWh/m²/day) ! Jan !! Feb !! Mar !! Apr !! May !! Jun !! Jul !! Aug !! Sept !! Oct !! Nov !! Dec|-| 1.58 || 2.48 || 3.58 || 4.44 || 5.05 || 5.63 || 5.54 || 4.88 || 3.71 || 2.31 || 1.44 || 1.23|-| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example|-| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example || Example|} Montreal - Incident Solar Energy on Horizontal Surface (kWh/m²/day) Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec1.58 3.58 5.05
Average = 3.40
http://solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.html