Do Solar Panels Work In Cloud Cover. To be precise solar panels will produce an average of 10 20 of what they would provide on a hot sunny day. If there is enough light to cast a shadow in spite of the clouds your solar panels should operate at about half of their full capacity. You can learn more on how solar panels generate electricity from our article how do solar panels work.
If there is enough light to cast a shadow in spite of the clouds your solar panels should operate at about half of their full capacity. Yes just not quite as well on a cloudy day typical solar panels can produce 10 25 of their rated capacity.
The good news.
The simple answer is that solar panels do work on cloudy days they just do not perform as well as they would on a bright sunny day. This does not shut down power production however. Eventually with heavy cloud cover solar panels will produce very little helpful power. If there is enough light to cast a shadow in spite of the clouds your solar panels should operate at about half of their full capacity.