[ASK] Solar Panel Works on Heat / Light?

[bpermana]

Hello all,

I live in Jakarta, Indonesia which is a tropical country. As a tropical country of course we have abundant sunlight in our country.
I admit that we are still far away in developing a solar energy because of the financial, technology, and "awareness" of our people in solar energy.

However, I'm thinking that Solar Energy may have a bright future in our country since (like I wrote) we are a tropical country. That's why I'm trying to learn this solar panel bit by bit and (if possible) implement it in the future.

Question: I'm still confused on how Solar Panel works. I know that solar panel energy is generated when positive and negative ion is reacting, but what triggers it in the first place? Is it:
a) the amount of the heat? or
b) the brightness of the sun shine? or
c) both?

I mean, is it true that brighter and hotter location like in tropical country can produce (or charge) more and faster energy?
For example:
let's say we put the same type of solar panel in Tokyo and in Jakarta. If Tokyo's condition is around 18Celcius degree and Jakarta is around 33 Celcius Degree, will solar panel in Jakarta produce more power and charged faster?


Thank you.. Maybe this is a silly question but I can't get it out of my head.

[russ]

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

For a given insolation - the amount of sunlight received at a given location is expressed in watts/m2 Tokyo would have better production due to the cooler temperature.

On the 'forum' page look at the right side and you will see 'helpful links'. Click on PV Watts calculator and you can work out the annual average insolation for your area.

Should be higher than Tokyo.

Russ

[bpermana]

hi Russ,

Thanks for your answer. I've been looking at the given links and somewhat understands it (although I didn't find any location to Indonesia, but I tried to figure it out using example data)

Can you explain, why cooler area will results in higher Watts/m2 than in hotter area?
Because in my opinion higher temperature equals to higher energy, therefore will result in higher watts/m2. I just don't understand it.

[russ]

The production decrease is due to a characteristic of a solar PV cell - they are derated above 25

[russ]

For data close to your location you can try 1) NASA weather data http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/

[russ]

A good document for helping one to understand PV modules is available from Home Power - free of charge

http://homepower.com/view/?file=HP134_pg50_Sanchez

[Mike90250]

It's the brightness (intensity) of visible sunlight that controls the power output.

Not UV, not IR, but just visible light. As panels get hot, they loose efficency, so while a mirror will boost output briefly, as the panel heats, it looses power again.

[bpermana]

hi Russ and Mike,

ok, I'll try to read it first and will post back later. Thanks