<p>Solar panels create electricity from (sun)light. It stands to reason that more hours of light equals more electricity. This is a gross simplification of the problem, as light strength, heat, how quickly it gets dirty, service hours and even distance to where the electricity is used influence this further. For now I want to keep this question simple. More light hours year round is better.</p>
<h2>Ocean 'deserts'</h2>
<p>Sunlight hours are reasonably well available for cities and some areas, but not for the ocean.</p>
<p>I'm looking into solar panels on the ocean. For this I would like to know if there are areas of the ocean with as much direct sunlight hours as possible. That means few (no) clouds overhead to block the sun, no mist or any weather phenomenon that blocks sunlight from solar panels.</p>
<p>At first I thought there would be little difference where you would put solar panels, as it is a pretty uniform mass of water. However, we can see that the oceans and seas build up different patterns. We have cold and hot currents and areas where different kinds of storms are created for example. One influences the cloud formation and the other is a result of differences in the ocean. Then it stands to reason that some parts of the ocean get more sunlight hours than others. Of course it is easy to assume this is near the equator, but thanks to cloud generation it might not be so simple. Though &quot;around the equator&quot; would not be specific enough for me.</p>
<p><strong>What part(s) of the ocean have the most sunlight hours?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-28T18:23:03.497Z
Just as an aside, anything on the oceans needs to be protected against salt - particularly metals which can corrode easily in saline environments. It's not impossible, just something else to consider & design for.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-28T20:10:39.440Z
Helpful link which explains why the equator actually has less sunshine per year, with also a map of average cloud cover: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_duration
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T08:05:51.190Z
@Fred thank you for the addition. This one was already in my list, but such a check is valuable.
Trioxidane
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-31T08:07:38.643Z
@Jean-MariePrival thanks for the link. That was helpful. I did say near or around the equator, but I see that this can be interpretedas on the equator.
Trioxidane
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-09T15:12:31.190Z
Origin areas of the Westerlies would a good place to start, due to Hadley cell structure.
Erik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T17:53:02.640Z
Have a look at [this answer to *Have these optical satellite ground station locations been chosen for clear skies?*](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/a/8880/6031)
uhoh
<meteorology><oceanography><sun>
Highest amount of sun hours in the ocean
Trioxidane
# Highest amount of sun hours in the ocean

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-28)

Solar panels create electricity from (sun)light. It stands to reason that more hours of light equals more electricity. This is a gross simplification of the problem, as light strength, heat, how quickly it gets dirty, service hours and even distance to where the electricity is used influence this further. For now I want to keep this question simple. More light hours year round is better.

## Ocean 'deserts'

Sunlight hours are reasonably well available for cities and some areas, but not for the ocean.

I'm looking into solar panels on the ocean. For this I would like to know if there are areas of the ocean with as much direct sunlight hours as possible. That means few (no) clouds overhead to block the sun, no mist or any weather phenomenon that blocks sunlight from solar panels.

At first I thought there would be little difference where you would put solar panels, as it is a pretty uniform mass of water. However, we can see that the oceans and seas build up different patterns. We have cold and hot currents and areas where different kinds of storms are created for example. One influences the cloud formation and the other is a result of differences in the ocean. Then it stands to reason that some parts of the ocean get more sunlight hours than others. Of course it is easy to assume this is near the equator, but thanks to cloud generation it might not be so simple. Though "around the equator" would not be specific enough for me.

**What part(s) of the ocean have the most sunlight hours?**

**Tags:** meteorology, oceanography, sun

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Just as an aside, anything on the oceans needs to be protected against salt - particularly metals which can corrode easily in saline environments. It's not impossible, just something else to consider & design for.  
> **username_2**: Helpful link which explains why the equator actually has less sunshine per year, with also a map of average cloud cover: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_duration  
> **username_0**: @username_1 thank you for the addition. This one was already in my list, but such a check is valuable.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 thanks for the link. That was helpful. I did say near or around the equator, but I see that this can be interpretedas on the equator.  
> **username_3**: Origin areas of the Westerlies would a good place to start, due to Hadley cell structure.  
> **username_4**: Have a look at [this answer to *Have these optical satellite ground station locations been chosen for clear skies?*](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/a/8880/6031)  

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## 0 answers

