Climatologic Influences on Photovoltaic Production

For around two decades, technological improvements of semi conductors has allowed the growth of photovoltaic devices (PV) for domestic and industrial use. This energy, which does not create greenhouse effect gases or environmental risks, could be considered as extremely clean. For home use, owners need PV cells deployed with an adequate orientation and a tilt angle directly linked to the latitude of the deployment site. The production will, of course, depend on the panel conversion factor but also on the sun’s elevation in the day time and finally; on several climatologic parameters like water vapour along the optical path, aerosols and, above all, by cloud cover