East/west angle options

[G00SE]

So I’ve tried to find a thread, blog, or article with a mathematical comparison but have some up short.

Let’s say someone wants to run a string facing due east and a string facing due west. Rationale “extend hours of production off battery”

For the south array it was fairly easy to determine optimal angles of tilt.
For east/west it seems there are two opposing options.

1: extreme vertical tilt (60 to 90 degrees). This would allow the earliest and latest energy absorbtion at the expense of mid day and later/earlier collection once the suns angle is beyond panel visibility.
2: shallow tilt (15 to 30 degrees). This would allow early and late collection due to the suns direction on the horizon, but a less direct angle. It would however allow production for a longer duration.

So: is there a general consensus on which is “better” in an absolute sense, assuming environmental obstacles are the same for either

 

[BentleyJ]

Look up @sunshine_eggo, several good resources in his footer. Here is one of them.

PVWatts

Estimates the energy production and cost of energy of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world. It allows homeowners, small building owners, installers and manufacturers to easily develop estimates of the performance of potential PV installations

pvwatts.nrel.gov

 

[G00SE]

Look up @sunshine_eggo, several good resources in his footer. Here is one of them.

PVWatts

Estimates the energy production and cost of energy of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world. It allows homeowners, small building owners, installers and manufacturers to easily develop estimates of the performance of potential PV installations

pvwatts.nrel.gov

I spend a lot of time on that site. It is great

 

[chrisski]

So: is there a general consensus on which is “better” in an absolute sense, assuming environmental obstacles are the same for either

Flatter in the winter and steeper in the summer.

Assuming no shading issues, or time of use use charges, or planning around max export restrictions, or needing more power for a high wattage appliance, South facing is always better.

The four issues I mentioned drive the angle and direction, but the overall total possible output for the day is reduced.