Can You Get More than 100% Solar Energy? The Answer is Yes!

More and more folks are putting up rooftop solar panels here in the Northwest.  And some of them are getting results that seem bizarre.

Take the case of Ted Weiler of Kenmore, WA, who sent me a note that other day wondering why he sometimes gets higher peak solar output from his panels during partly cloudy days than clear ones. 

Here is a plot he sent me for his system output for a few days during the past week.  The green line shows the power produced on June 4, a day that was nearly clear.  Nice cosine shape.   The blue line/area shows the output on June 9th, a partly cloudy day---something very strange is going on!  At some times the solar power output was GREATER on the partly cloudy day than on the clear day.  How could that be?   And an even cloudier day is shown with the red line...even THAT day had a period with greater output than the clear day.

Can this be right?   Lets check the solar radiation measured on the roof of the atmospheric sciences building at the University of Washington.  First, lets look at the amounts on June 3, 4, and 5 (the times are in GMT/UTC, so they are offset 7 hr from PDT).   June 4th, the middle one, almost looks like a perfect cosine.  The 3rd and the 5th had some clouds.  But wait!  Look carefully and you will see that the partly cloudy days had some spikes (associated with clouds) that had peak values greater than the clear day.  Ted Weiler might be on to something!

Let's check out a different trio of dates (June 6, 7, and 8).  You can see the spikes above clear sky values again!  What is going on?

The answer is obvious if you think about it.  On partly cloudy days, we have periods with breaks in the clouds when you get direct solar radiation from the sun.  But you ALSO get solar radiation that is reflected off nearby clouds...solar radiation that is not getting to someone else because the cloud is intercepting it.   So you start with the clear-sky value direction from the sun, but you are also getting the radiation reflecting off clouds....the sum is clearly more than the clear sky value.

Here is the view from the top of my department at 2:30 PDT on June 9th.  It was partially cloudy at that time, and you can see some of the bright clouds that were giving the direct sunlight an extra boost.

Although you might get a boost above clear skies values for a short while, inevitably the direct solar radiation will get blocked by a cloud--thus, your total power output will be less than the clear sky total over the entire day.  If you can find a way to stay in the direct sun, while clouds surrounded you and never blocked the sun...you would have a really sweet situation.  My god, I know such a place.!..it is known as Sequim and its famous "blue hole."  No wonder so many California retirees are heading there, solar panels in tow.