September 30, 2020 – A question concerning the effects of the smoke from the fires on the West Coast on the production of power from rooftop or backyard solar energy systems here in Missouri. Finding the answer was not as easy to find as we thought.
When considering installing energy efficient solar panels on your roof or in your backyard, you should consider how much energy they will produce and your return on investment (ROI). For example, in Jefferson City, Missouri, a 10 kW photovoltaic system (PV) should take about 11 years recoup costs based on the reduction of one’s monthly utility bill. This is taking in effect Missouri’s weather and cloud coverage.
With a life time of about 25-years, you should gain about $34,000 in total savings from your PV system.[1]
But with the smoke from the wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington state, those numbers may change very little, if at all. According to solar monitoring company Solar Analytics of Oakland, California, rooftop PV systems saw the power output plummet by 15 – 45% on very heavy smoke haze days in major cities.[2] Fortunately, Missouri experienced only a light haze from the fires.
The City of Columbia looked into the reduction of power because of the West Coast fire haze. Brandon Renaud, Utility Services Manager, looked specifically at September 12 and 13 as two similar days of haze in the Columbia area. September 12 had cloud coverage and the 13 was clear.
“We compared recent cloudy and clear days against September 12th and 13th and did not identify a significant change in solar production,” Renaud wrote on September 23.
Of course this is a very localized study and your energy output may differ.
More significant is the actual cloud coverage during the day will determine the efficiency of the PV panels. On a cloudy day the PV output reduction in central Missouri can drop to anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of the energy output as produced on a sunny day.
For more information on financing your own solar panel array or any other energy efficient project, please visit Missouri Clean Energy District’s Programs page.
[1] Solar-Estimate. (2020). Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.solar-estimate.org/residential-solar/solar-panels/jefferson-city-missouri
[2] How Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days: SunPower Solar Blog. (2020, August 25). Retrieved from https://us.sunpower.com/blog/2019/05/09/how-solar-panels-work-cloudy-days
Recent Comments