We have been interested in the potential of solar energy and decided to add panels to our home. We don’t really have high electric bills and were told when the panels were installed that we should not really expect to see any income from our investment. In part, they can make such predictions from an understanding of your normal consumption of electricity and the orientation of your roof. They were correct. In a good month (June in the example that follows we covered about half of our consumption).
After the first few months, I started to wonder what would happen in the winter expecting the panels to be covered by snow producing no electricity. This turned out to be partially the case, but so far snow depth of several inches with moderate temperatures has eventually slid off the panels. Perhaps a more important issue has been the frequency of overcast days we experience in the winter. You produce some electricity on a cloudy day, but not much. Clouds and snow can mean nothing generated for the day.
June – generated $64
December – generated $4.20
This image shows one set of panels (the other is on a different section of roof). You can see what I mean by the snow eventually sliding off the panels by comparing the panels to the depth on the adjacent area of the roof.
There are many data collection and analyses options associated with solar and this represents a project-based learning opportunity for educators.