Weight Of Spacecraft Solar Panels Per Square Meter

Solar irradiance is often integrated over a given time period in order to report the radiant energy emitted into the surrounding environment joule per square metre j m 2 during that time.

Weight of spacecraft solar panels per square meter.

On average solar panels and the mounting equipment weigh 2 4 lbs per square foot 10 20 kg per square meter which is usually within the acceptable limits of your roof. To date solar power other than for propulsion has been practical for spacecraft operating no farther from the sun than the orbit of jupiter for example juno magellan mars global surveyor and mars observer used solar power as does the earth orbiting hubble space telescope the rosetta space probe launched 2 march 2004 used its 64 square metres 690 sq ft of solar panels as far as the. Although solar panels vary in maximum power output efficacy and temperature co efficient their relative sizes and weight are the same for the most part. Solar panels are 17 23 square feet and weigh somewhere around 40 50 pounds.

Some people associate solar power with heat because heat is associated with lots of sunlight but if there s too much heat your solar panels may not work as effectively. A majority of roofs can withstand the weight of solar panels. Some crystalline panels however bear too much weight for some roofs to withstand. For example the weight per square footing for asphalt shingle weight per 100sq ft lbs range is 190 250.

However one has to take into account the point loads as installers often want to minimize the number of mounting locations in order to minimize the risk of leaks. To produce the maximum amount of power per square foot a solar panel has to be well designed to handle temperature spectrum angle and amount of light. In a 6 kilowatt solar installation made up of 20 solar panels the panels alone will weigh approximately 800 pounds 20 panels x 40 lbs. Solar panels do not vary a lot in size and weights.