Do Solar Panels Cool Attic

Before considering solar attic fans you will want to think about how much direct sunlight your solar panel will receive each day.

Do solar panels cool attic.

The fan blades spin but they don t lower the attic temperature at all. According to a team of researchers at the uc san diego jacobs school of engineering the solar panels sprouting on increasing numbers of residential and commercial rooftops around the world aren t. Installing solar panels will block this sunlight from hitting your roof thereby preventing heat from entering your house. Air movement can be a significant problem with some models.

This is a solar panel supplying free electricity to the attic fan under the silver dome on the rear roof. The researchers found that solar panels can lower a roof s temperature by 5 degrees fahrenheit or about 3 degrees celsius. The graph is from page 30. Cloud cover dust and other obstructions are essential to review before you commit to this technology as well.

White shingles reflect more of the incident solar radiation and stay cooler. You can read more about this in fsec s literature review of attic ventilation pdf. By shading your roof solar panels can lower the temperature of your home by several degrees. Do solar panels keep your roof and attic cooler.