how much does the shade from rooftop solar panels reduce energy consumption in cooling? (assume 100% covered)?

Posted on December 24, 2009 by admin

So if an average home roof in North America is covered with solar panels, how much does the shade from the panels reduce the demand for cooling via other methods, i.e. air conditioning? I’m not looking for how much power they generate, but how much power they save strictly from the shade they provide.

Found the site listed in the source. It compares different roofing material and the temperature rise resulting. One could imagine that the solar panels would be smooth. The other source goes on to say cooler roofing material can reduce air conditioning costs 10-20%.

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3 Responses to how much does the shade from rooftop solar panels reduce energy consumption in cooling? (assume 100% covered)?

  1. mr p says:
    December 25, 2009 at 2:13 am

    20% reduction
    References :

  2. bwise says:
    December 25, 2009 at 2:27 am

    Found the site listed in the source. It compares different roofing material and the temperature rise resulting. One could imagine that the solar panels would be smooth. The other source goes on to say cooler roofing material can reduce air conditioning costs 10-20%.
    References :
    http://eetd.lbl.gov/coolroof/how.htm
    http://eetd.lbl.gov/l2m2/cool.html

  3. George says:
    December 25, 2009 at 3:10 am

    It depends on the type of solar panel.
    References :
    http://energystimulus.net