Credit: GLERL. OK, so the lakeâs average water temperature is still a bracing 68 degrees, but it's considered downright tropical for the region. As the above chart shows, based on the 30-year average, the lakeâs average water temperature should be in the mid-50s.
Touted as a promising alternative energy source for decades, solar panels crown rooftops and roadside signs, and help keep spacecraft powered. But how do solar panels work? Simply put, a solar panel works by allowing photons, or particles of light, to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. Solar panels actually comprise many, smaller units called photovoltaic cells. (Photovoltaic simply means they convert sunlight into electricity.) Many cells linked together make up a solar panel. Each photovoltaic cell is basically a sandwich made up of two slices of semi-conducting material, usually silicon â the same stuff used in microelectronics. To work, photovoltaic cells need to establish an electric field.
Any unused electricity from production simultaneously goes back into the electrical grid. At night or on cloudy days â when your solar power system is not producing more than whatâs needed âelectricity is drawn from the grid as it normally would. In most cases, solar panels produce more than enough energy. In order to maximize your investment and produce as much solar energy as possible, the panels need direct access to the sunâs rays for most of the day. Any shading on a solar power system will reduce its energy output considerably. Air temperatures normally do not affect solar energy systems nor do locations where there tends to be higher snow accumulations.