How Important is Summer Solar Panel Electricity Generation?

When we first got our solar panels we hadn't realised how output varied over the year and the difference between the maximum output in summer and winter. The last few months have shown us how important summer months are for our solar panel output and how relatively insignificant the winter months are for the overall annual performance of your solar PV panels.

How Important is Summer Solar Panel Electricity Generation?

While December might have an average generation total of 100kWh, a good summer month can exceed this amount within 5 days. An exceptionally sunny summer month can generate such a massive excess over the average that winter generation is then irrelevant. The difference between 100kWh for an average December or a poor December with only 50kWh is so insignificant when a summer month can produce over 20kWh in a single day.

When we first installed the solar panels in November every day of sun was great to see the meter tick up but it is now obvious that those low amounts in winter are not important for the overall annual performance of your solar panels.