Solar Energy Help Pleas?

Question

Which location (house) would absorb the most solar energy.

okay so house 1 is right under the sun and house 2 is diagnoally.

SUN is Here

I ------I

I------------I

I --------------I

I -----------------I

I -----------------------I

h #1------------------h #2

I=sun rays

dont mind the ----

Answer 1

Tropical region !

Answer 2

House no. 1  is subjected to more of solar energy... than house no. 2......

Now which of them absorbs more depends on the nature of the houses..... the material they are made up of.........?

If they both are made of the same material and physical shape then house no. 1 absorbs more of solar energy........ provied it is not below a tree.......

Answer 3

house 1 is in the Tropics, and house 2 is in a temperate zone.

Now if you know which place is hotter, you have your answer.

Answer 4

In general, the house with the most direct incident sunlight. In this basic diagram you've provided, house #1 would absorb the most solar energy, all other things equal.

However, numerous factors could have house #2 as the house absorbing the most solar energy. For example, if house #1 has 10 m^2 of PV panels whereas house #2 has 100 m^2. Or, if house #2 has its solar panels tilted at the proper angle (the house's latitude) and house #1 has it's PV panels a 90 degree angle (assuming the houses aren't on the north pole). Or if house #1 is shaded by 100 ft. Douglas Fir trees and house #2 has no landscaping casting shadows.

Additionally, the angle that is between the two houses from where you've drawn your sun origin is very very very very very small when seen from the sun. As far as the sun, being 93 million miles away, knows, house #1 IS house #2. The difference in received sunlight would be on the order of 0.000001 w/m^2 or much much smaller.

Many factors affect the accuracy of my first statement. If there are any other constraints which you have not listed here, it is very likely that house #2 would receive more solar energy.

Answer 5

Note that the angles in your example will shift seasonally. So while house #1 might have the sun higher in the sky now, a seasonal shift could reverse the angles in the favor of house #2 depending on the geographic locations of the two houses.

Overall, having the sun higher in the sky generally translates to more solar energy being delivered. (If you neglect any misc shading, weather and other outside local influences.) For cases where the sun is lower in the sky that generally could mean winter time, shorter days (less time to receive sunlight), and a longer path through the atmosphere which would tend to warm the atmosphere and deliver less to the house. It can also mean that the incident sunlight is hitting the atmosphere at an angle and as a result there will then be a larger percentage of the solar energy that will be reflected back into space.

So, for a very basic case, house #1 at the moment of your example would receive more solar energy, just keep in mind that these angles will change with the seasons.

Timothy D.

West Melbourne, FL