WCCTV's Care Guide On Maintaining Solar Panels Throughout Winter

In Winter, Solar Panels can lose around 25% of their efficiency due to shorter days, making every hour count even more than normal.

What to Expect From Your Solar Power Energy This Winter

Solar panels work by converting sunlight into electricity and heat through a process called photovoltaic effect. The amount of power created is dependent on multiple factors, however, the main factor tends to be based on weather conditions.

Throughout spring and summer, days are longer and the likelihood of sunlight increases meaning solar panels will produce more power. However, in Winter this drops.

Although solar panels work during the colder months, they generally produce less energy due to:

• Fewer daylight hours
• Sun is lower in the sky
• More cloudy days
• Increased chance of snow

You may have been expecting rain to impact the productivity of your panels, however, this actually helps wash away any dirt and dust that can become built up on them.

Overall, during Winter, you should still expect your solar panels to produce power and work as needed, however, you should always prepare for the production of power to be reduced over this time. 

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The Importance of Maintaining Your Solar Panels During Winter

Due to the reduced power productivity, maintaining your solar panels is crucial to maximising the power it receives. 

For security, power is required 24/7, all-year round, otherwise losing this can place you at risk of intruders and increase the chance of criminal activity with no cameras to capture this. 

Therefore, any CCTV solutions that utilise solar power could use a helping hand over the Winter period to ensure optimal power production and management. This will help maintain your security and ensure that crime prevention continues.

Although there are many benefits to solar powered CCTV like the environmental impact, power autonomy and off-the-grid CCTV, you always have to consider the weather condition changes and how to optimise power during this.

Utilising our 20 years of experience in security solutions, and offering solar CCTV ourselves, we understand how to peak your power production in the Winter months. Gain an insight into our knowledge in this care guide below: 

Clean Any Debris Off Your Solar Panels on a Regular Basis

Snow could be an obstacle for your solar panels as they prevent sunlight from reaching the panels themselves, and as Winter brings a higher likelihood of snow, you have to be prepared for build-up to occur. 

As much as you may think that snow will simply melt away, where there has been a large coverage of it, the chances that it will melt away quickly is minimal. Therefore, if this happens, it is best to wipe the snow off the solar panels to remove the blockage if safe to do so. 

Other debris caused from storms, winds and unpredictable weather could also cover your solar panels, so check on this where possible and remove it carefully if you can.

Debris and snow may seem like small issues, however, when your solar panels are linked to powering your security, it’s important to ensure they remain clear in order to continue monitoring.

Angle the Solar Panels to Ensure Maximum Sun Exposure

Angling is everything with solar panels for two reasons; the first being to prevent any build-up by avoiding a flat surface and the second being that the angle of your solar panel can determine the amount of power it pulls. 

The optimal angle for solar panels in the UK depends on the season and location, and we understand this at WCCTV. With Winter being the time to prioritise this due to the shorter days of sunlight that are available to us.

For all our Solar Powered CCTV solutions we have designed our towers carefully to ensure the solar panels are angled in the correct way for them to receive sufficient power. 

If you are in doubt about the positioning of your solar panels this Winter, speak with those who fitted the solar panels to gain guidance on this. A slight adjustment could make a bigger difference than you think. 

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Make Sure Your Solar Panels are Positioned to Avoid Snow Build-up

As mentioned previously, both the angle and positioning are key to preventing build-up. Allowing this to occur can block sunlight from reaching the solar panels, which reduces the production of power. 

During Winter, every minute of sunlight counts and something as simple as your panel positioning could be vital to power loss.

Ideally, you need your solar panels pointing downwards, in a diagonal direction. This allows for any debris such as snow and leaves to slide down the solar panel, preventing it from settling and blocking light.

We follow this premise with our Solar Powered CCTV Towers to ensure all-year round performance, especially during the Winter months. 

Reduce Any Shade Blocking the Solar Panels

Similarly to the angle and positioning being important to preventing light blockage on your solar panels, the location where your solar panels sit is also essential in preventing this. 

The placement of any security solution needs to centre around coverage and ensuring that all perimeters you wish to protect are secured by CCTV. However, when you are using a Solar Powered option, you need to ensure there are no objects that could create shade and block light from reaching the solar panels.

For remote locations, consider trees, branches and bushes both in front and behind that could create shade, and for more industrial sites, consider containers, materials and tall buildings.

During Winter in particular, these elements are important to keep in mind as shade will reduce the amount of light being received. Therefore, in your next review of any solar powered security solutions, take a moment to quickly check for any obstructions.

Monitor the Solar Panel Performance Throughout Winter

Like with any power source, you need to monitor it to ensure it is working as required.

Although power production will be reduced over the Winter period, the effectiveness of your solar panels should actually increase, so keep an eye out for any performance changes as this could mean there is an issue.

Monitoring can be completed by yourself or your security provider, depending on your contract with them.

At WCCTV, we provide a fully managed service for all our products which helps relieve some of the responsibilities for you such as, the instalment process, repositioning of equipment and maintenance of the product. 

We also offer additional software like our Heartbeat diagnostics service that runs comprehensive health checks on our CCTV cameras to monitor performance and respond swiftly to any issues.

Provide Back-up Power

Solar panels should provide sufficient power over Winter, however, it is natural to have concerns.

If you do have concerns, it may be best to invest in a CCTV system that utilises back-up power, to provide you with complete power autonomy and reliability in the service. 

Weather can be unpredictable and you will never know how much sun your solar panels will receive throughout Winter, so taking that extra precaution can provide you with that boost in reassurance you are looking for.

Especially for those locations such as construction sites, Critical National Infrastructure facilities and off-grid sites where they are without power or internet facilities.

With our Solar Fuel Cell Towers, they operate completely autonomously and are designed specifically for those types of locations where other security competitors may not be able to reach. 

Although many focus on the environmental benefits of our Solar Fuel Cell Towers, one of the biggest benefits is the fuel cell back-up we provide that allows them to work in all types of conditions.

Combining two powers in this instance ensures security can be maintained whilst still utilising solar power during the Winter months.

Time to Prepare Your Panels

Sustaining your security with solar energy is all down to the preparation of your panels and keeping them maintained throughout this more challenging period. By following our Winter care guide you can be confident in your solar powered security coverage.

Interested in learning more about our Solar CCTV systems? Get in contact with one of our Solar CCTV experts who can guide you on this and find the right solution for you.

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