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.

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. For example the weight per square footing for asphalt shingle weight per 100sq ft lbs range is 190 250. Based on our calculation above we know that this same system measures at 352 square feet which works out to a weight of 2 3 pounds per square foot 800 pounds 352 sq ft.

Solar irradiance is the power per unit area watt per square metre w m 2 received from the sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation as reported in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. 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. The weight per 100sq ft kg range is 85 110. 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.

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. 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. 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.