Find out about shading and how it affects your solar panel installation and it's efficiency.
What is Shading?
Solar panels generate electricity by sunlight shining on the panel. The amount of electricity generated depends on the intensity of sunlight reaching the panel. If it is cloudy or sunlight is blocked from your panel by trees or other buildings, less power is generated.
What is Partial Shading?
If your system is partially shaded, only part of your panel array is shaded. Because of the way panels have to be connected, this will reduce the performance of all of the panels.
How much will shading affect my system?
Partial shading can reduce output by 20%. Significant shading will cause a reduction of 40%.
What can I do?
Counter-intuitively, a smaller system may actually produce a higher power. It can be better to have a smaller system that is not shaded than a larger system that has one or more panels that are partially shaded.
Take a look at our information about solar panels.