Did you know that the most southerly point in Germany is at the same latitude as Bemidji, Minnesota? Right now the day is only about 10 hours long in Berlin. Two months from now it will be 7:40 long and the sun will not rise above 15° above the horizon. Not much solar energy, Klaus.As the Germans and the rest of the morally preening, European, socialist greens struggle to find ways to keep from freezing to death this winter, they'll discover that solar power needs, you know, the sun.
Advantage: Putin.
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| Ach du lieber! Wo ist die Sonne? |
Thanks, KT. I have to go turn up the heat now! I'm living in southern Germany, lol. And yes, that sun is not out for very long. Of course, the flipside is that it will be out for quite a while in summer.
ReplyDeleteWe've actually been having a very fine Indian Summer (am I still allowed to say that?). But it's finally turning cold now.
BTW, the issue with solar panels is not just about how many hours per day the sun is out, but also something to do with the inverse square law of light combined with Lambert's cosine law: the greater the angle of the light off of the normal, the less light that actually hits the surface. By 60° off the normal, you're down 50%.
ReplyDeleteAnd just to start the obvious, in the winter months of the northern hemisphere, the further north you go, like Bemidji, the further off of the normal the panel will be. The difference between the summer months and the winter months angle of the sun is about 40°. Which ROUGHLY would mean that if your panels are tilted for optimal position based on noon of the summer solstice, at the winter solstice, the sunlight hitting the panel on a clear day is about 65% of that.
ReplyDeleteNow then factor in what particulars and water vapor do to scatter sunlight...
These are EXTREMELY rough numbers.
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