The April 8 solar eclipse that will happen over North America has some worrying about the status of their solar panels, but are the concerns legitimate?
For most of us, the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8 will be a fun day, with family and friends assembling outside and having a great time. Yet, for those working in the energy industry, the solar eclipse takes on a different significance. For them, it’s not just a rare celestial event but also a unique opportunity to observe and understand the impact of eclipses on the electrical grid. So, you might wonder, what’s the link between a solar eclipse and power generation? Are these seemingly unrelated fields intertwined in some way?
Well, until a few decades ago, when solar power generation was in its infancy, the connection between eclipses and power grids was tenuous at best. The focus was on the weather, with eclipses causing minor disruptions like sudden temperature and wind changes. But as the solar energy sector has boomed, so has the impact of eclipses on America’s ever-reliable electrical grid.
Today, nearly 4% of the electricity consumed in the United States comes from solar energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And while that might seem insignificant, it is big enough for grid operators in the country to plan for contingencies.Will the solar eclipse have any impact on installed solar panels?
The solar eclipse only obscures the Sun for a couple of minutes and has no impact on the life of the solar panel installed on your rooftop, nor is it expected to cause any sort of indirect damage to it.
