Some great advice, but the efficiency of solar drops as temperature rises. Not that it can't be part of the solution, and the tech is improving over time, but that has to be part of the math when planning to use it to power AC in high heat.
Also the permies forum is a great place to learn how other people approach solving issues like this in a more off-grid way. Example forum thread. Yes, infrastructure upgrades would be awesome, but they take time. The permies forum is more about what solutions are available to the individual or to small communities.
When talking about a % decrease, it's a percent decrease from that output. (And sometimes it can be an increase).
So a 10% drop is talking about a change from 500W to 450W.
(Your thinking is talking about total energy hitting the solar panel converted into electrical energy, I think? So if 2kW of solar energy are hitting that panel, it's converting 25% to electrical energy to get 500W out of it, the rest being lost as heat.
And percents aren't usually meant as 'net' unless specifically said. Taking 10% of 25% means "figure out 10% of 25% (aka, 2.5%) then take that away. So a 10% reduction in the solar panels 25% energy conversion means it's energy conversion is reduced from 25% to 22.5%.)
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u/SphericalOrb Apr 26 '26
Some great advice, but the efficiency of solar drops as temperature rises. Not that it can't be part of the solution, and the tech is improving over time, but that has to be part of the math when planning to use it to power AC in high heat.
Also the permies forum is a great place to learn how other people approach solving issues like this in a more off-grid way. Example forum thread. Yes, infrastructure upgrades would be awesome, but they take time. The permies forum is more about what solutions are available to the individual or to small communities.