Do Solar Panels Keep A Structure Cooler?
November 27th, 2009
OK, so if you put solar panels up on a roof, they’re busy turning the sun’s energy into electricity. So, does that mean the roof (and therefore the house/structure) stays cooler as well? Or does it still get hot, because . . . I dunno, maybe the panels do not convert all the energy, and the spillover still heats up the building.
Any links or URLs to scientific answers would be appreciated, but I do not mind hearing from the Average Joe or (Joelle).
Any links or URLs to scientific answers would be appreciated, but I do not mind hearing from the Average Joe or (Joelle).
Home > Solar Power For Home Q & A > Do Solar Panels Keep A Structure Cooler?
I would assume since the sun is hitting the panels directly and not the roof it should keep your house cooler. Is this some kind of school research paper or are you planning on buying Solar Panels for your home? If your planning to get some Panels check out this site. I think you would like it.
it would depend on the type of paneling. And compared to what.
Since it absorbs solar energy, that includes some heat. Compared to white paint, which may reflect more of the heat,
it depends.
I asked the same question once to a PV install during a seminar a few years back, and he explained the following:
No, PV panels do not reflect or absorb much heat from going into the building below but there is a reason for this: PV panels that reflect / absorb heat produce less electricity. They are designed to Thermally Transparent.
Even worse if installed incorrectly without a good angle and air gap to allow the heat to escape the panels will actually trap this heat and increase the interior temperature of the building below!
Below is the scientific analysis that is quite verbose but has two nice graphs at the end.
To summarize: Adding PV panels, at best, shaded the building enough to reduce the load of the interior A/C unit by 1.8 kWh/sq-m/year. The electricity generated by the panels was about 356 kWh/sq-m/year. You can see the big advantage of PV panels is to make power, not reflect heat. Proper insulation is much cheaper and will do a much better job.
Don’t worry, I was shocked too, but like anything it makes sense after it is explained.