Roger, how can solar work when the sun is out of sight? And its a heck of a lot more effective when the sun is directly overheadT.hat seems pretty self-evident. I'm sure solar cells work a little with from sunshine at an obliqe angle, but all the concentrators and motore adjusting the angle of many solar cells to a 90 degree agle seems to argue that design engineers want the sun where there are smaller shadows and the sun's rays don't go through as much atmosphere.And thats the middle of the day.
Even a liberal arts major is capable of observation.

But, I was on a tear yesterday. I apologise for being a horse's ass, and that means to It Ain't So Bad. I get worried about other things sometimes and have been known to take it out on others, and that was bad manners.
Bob Ebersole

Solar works ALL of the time:

I write at night and my office and computer are solar powered, running on batteries. By 10 AM the next morning my batteries have recharged from the night's work. During the rest of the day, the office runs directly from the panels until sunset, then it is back on batteries. They also charge my electric car and pump water from my well. The primary purpose for this solar system was to provide emergency power during a blackout, but it is always available, so I use it.

The key is solar tracking: My eight panels are set up on a refrigerant-powered tracker that works from solar heating to cause the tilt to change- always looking at the sun. A tracker increases collected energy by approx 40 percent, and extends the solar day from sunrise to sunset, and does not require additional energy for operation.

I can also judge cloud cover by the collector current. It decreases during a rain storm, but fog is hardly discernable. During heavy cloud cover, charging may take until noon to complete.

The location is west of the Cascades in central Oregon. If solar will work here, it should work nearly everywhere.

I can also measure a small collector current during a full moon, by reflection from the sun. The tracker doesn't work without solar heat so this current is only available when the moon passes over the collectors- whatever their position.

Yes Solar works!

I have written two books on this system: Emergency Electricity From Solar Energy- Vols 1 and 2. by Ralph W. Ritchie,
Vol 1 is how it was designed and built and Vol 2 is operation and applications. They are my proof.

Questions? ralph-ritchie@comcast.net