dc optimizers in full shade?

[zouxi]

hi,

I have horizon shade for almost all the panels for the whole day during 4-5 months of the year (I am short on space so I have no other location).

do dc optimizers work in full shade?.

Thank you.

 

[zanydroid]

Optimizers and microinverters make the best out of a bad situation. If the situation is really bad, they don't really do much.

No MLPE will be able to pull power out of portions of solar panel that are blocked due to hard shading. Depending on hard shading you might lose 1/3 or 2/3 of the output voltage. 1/3 should work with most MPPT, losing 2/3 might cause the MPPT to shut down. Need to design the string appropriately.

If the shading affects the panels exactly the same, optimizers probably won't help you much.

Are we talking about TIGO or SolarEdge? Tigo is buck for impedance matching, SolarEdge is buck/boost with MPPT tracking. So Tigo isn't the same functionality for less money. Also if the panel is producing enough for buck to make a difference the operating voltage will drop further.

Half-cut can help, it's equivalent to two half sized panels permanently wired in parallel. Easy model is you can salvage 50% output in hard shade situation if only half the panel is shaded, vs losing 100%. And there is a higher probability of staying above the turn-on voltage.

 

[zouxi]

Optimizers and microinverters make the best out of a bad situation. If the situation is really bad, they don't really do much.

No MLPE will be able to pull power out of portions of solar panel that are blocked due to hard shading. Depending on hard shading you might lose 1/3 or 2/3 of the output voltage. 1/3 should work with most MPPT, losing 2/3 might cause the MPPT to shut down. Need to design the string appropriately.

If the shading affects the panels exactly the same, optimizers probably won't help you much.

Are we talking about TIGO or SolarEdge? Tigo is buck for impedance matching, SolarEdge is buck/boost with MPPT tracking. So Tigo isn't the same functionality for less money. Also if the panel is producing enough for buck to make a difference the operating voltage will drop further.

Half-cut can help, it's equivalent to two half sized panels permanently wired in parallel. Easy model is you can salvage 50% output in hard shade situation if only half the panel is shaded, vs losing 100%. And there is a higher probability of staying above the turn-on voltage.

so in case of partial shading, which is better tigo or solar edge?

 

[zanydroid]

so in case of partial shading, which is better tigo or solar edge?

Hopefully someone else will have an informed idea. I'm still learning the theory, and I don't have experience with either hardware yet. Mostly I've been using microinverters but I keep an eye on the other options.

Anyway to reiterate my point is that the overall string design and panel selection is pretty important.

 

[zouxi]

where can I buy tigo optimizers?