You heard that right, it’s time to cool down the solar farms a bit.
It’s a common belief that a solar panel produces more energy on receiving more sunlight but that’s not always true. In fact, a report from the World Economic Forum state that photovoltaic cells on a solar panel (that trap sunlight and convert it into electricity) may start producing less energy if they get overheated.
A new study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Utah (UU), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Portland State University (PSU), sheds more light on this rarely discussed aspect of solar panels. It mentions that the efficiency of a solar plant goes down by 0.5 percent.
Jinli Guo/iStock.
Many solar panel manufacturers suggest that the ideal temperature for commercially used solar panels ranges between 15°C and 35°C, and the PV cells achieve the highest energy efficiency at 25°C. So, if a solar plant experiences a temperature around 50°C, it may suffer energy losses of up to 12 percent.
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