Adjust the settings to see how solar panel design affects power output!
What it does. This simulator recalculates solar power output in real time as you change time of day, panel tilt, panel count, and sky conditions, so you can see exactly which factors matter and by how much.
Why it exists. I built this for my own kids and it's since become something the science teacher at my school uses too. "Solar panels make electricity from sunlight" is easy to say and hard to really understand, watching output crash under an overcast sky or a bad tilt angle makes the physics visible instead of abstract.
The big idea. Panel angle matters because sunlight hitting a surface at an angle spreads its energy over more area, less power per square foot. That's also why panel tilt should roughly match your latitude, and why a panel facing the wrong direction can barely produce anything even at high noon.