Most people think solar won't work well in West Virginia. The fact of the matter is that WV has better solar irradiance than the Great Lakes states, New England, and even Germany which is the most PV developed country in the world.
If you go to the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and look at their OpenPV site, you can click on any state and see the statistics gathered over many years. If you click on West Virginia, you'll see the counties that are beginning to grow in PV. There is a concentration in the eastern panhandle (DC burbs) and the Greenbrier County area.
The mountains of WV do produce more clouds, but at the same time, a higher elevation provides somewhat higher energy due to the fact that there is less atmosphere above you. Southeastern WV can provide about 5.5 peak sun-hours in the summer and 2.7 in the winter. The annual average is around 4.3 sun-hours. A sun-hour is a standard measurement of power and includes all the cloudy days and seasonal sun angle for a particular site.
You can also access cost per watt installed by selecting a state and county and viewing the cost statistics in the surrounding graphs. Greenbrier County averages $6.01/watt compared to over $7 for the state and national installations. That dollar can make a big difference on the bottom line of your installation.
One other factor which is not usually included in solar potential is temperature. When using a device like a silicon PV module, the colder it is the more efficient it becomes.
ReplyDeleteSo, the West Virginia eastern mountains and valleys are usually 10 degrees F cooler than the lower lands bordering the state. This can have a measurable impact on total yield.