PV Gap

Agnes Said:

solar cells?

We Answered:

Its very true that solar cell efficiency depends on the location where they are being used. This is primarily because of the tilt of the Earths axis as well as seasonal changes. Basically as you get closer to the poles the suns rays become more and more "spread" out because the land in those areas is facing away from the sun. On average days are shorter closer to poles as well because, depending on the location, they may never fully face the sun even in full summer, where as the equator directly faces the sun all year long. Weather can also have a big effect if you were to try and use solar cells in an area (Like Seattle WA) where its almost always cloudy.

However this is only one small problem that scientists are facing with solar cells right now. Right now they only can use a small percentage of the solar energy available. They are also extremely expensive compared to the amount of electricity they produce.