How Solar Panels Work On Cloudy Days?

Mohidul Saad

Mohidul Saad is a co-founder of SOLARINSTALLGURU.COM, author and renewable energy benefit educator. He provides FREE online and offline training to home and business owners who are interested in reducing their electricity bills by 90 percent while slashing solar panel installation cost by 30-80 percent. DOWNLOAD this FREE renewable energy benefit education guide "101 ways to install solar system with little or no out of pocket cost" and start saving today.

updated at : Friday, February 24th, 2017

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How solar panels work on cloudy days is a common question people ask when thinking about switching to solar. It is a common myth that solar panels do not actually produce energy on cloudy days. The amount of energy produced will actually depend on not only the type of solar panels that you own but also how dense the clouds are.

How solar panels work on cloudy days

How Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days

On cloudy days, solar panels may not work at their highest efficiency but they produce 10-25% of the max capacity. This is because light can still go through the clouds. However, if each panel is producing 10-25% of its maximum capacity and you multiply the amount of energy by the number of panels you own, you should be producing enough energy to power your home even on a cloudy day. Germany, one of the global leaders in solar-generated electricity, produces its electricity from the sky on cloudy days. Most of the states in the USA are more suited to generate energy than most countries in the world. The solar panels work well enough on cloudy for us not to put too much weight on this notion when considering solar energy.