Why really hot weather doesn’t necessarily mean extra energy from solar panels

The UK’s recent heatwaves have helped to generate large amounts of solar power – but experts say the highest levels of electricity generation occurs on cooler, sunny days.

For solar power generation from panels, it is the amount of sunshine (technically called irradiance) that affects how much energy the panels produce, and the high temperatures don’t help this. In fact very warm weather marginally reduces the efficiency of panels.

Find out more