Maximum solar energy harvested…

[Haddly Negla]

Hi there guys!

This morning I had a discussion with a friend of mine about my solar panel mount and optimization of energy. Actually my 500 watts panel is mounted onto two poles : one fixed, the other retractable vertically from about 40 degrees Celsius. At noon when I am there, I switch the position to the other side. I think I gather more energy during the day with that configuration.

But my friend thinks that wasn’t necessary and I could just mount the panels to the according direction within a range of 30-45 degrees Celsius angle without the need to change the structure direction.

I intend to set up two 540 watts panels from one pole with the same idea of a rotating structure in other to gather the most energy available. What your thoughts about it?

 

[Hedges]

When PV panels cost $5/watt, motorized trackers could provide more Wh/day for similar price as additional PV panels. But trackers fail in 5 years, vs. panels fade away in 40 years.

Today, PV panels cost $0.50/watt

You can manually adjust. Seasonal would be much less often than time of day.

I would suggest buying more panels and putting the at multiple orientations, wired in parallel.
"Passive tracking", we call it.

 

[Haddly Negla]

Well I get it that passive tracking would be the best option. However if on a budget, does “manually tracking” really pay off regarding more wattage or is it useless to make the structure rotative?

 

[OzSolar]

Well I get it that passive tracking would be the best option. However if on a budget, does “manually tracking” really pay off regarding more wattage or is it useless to make the structure rotative?

From experience the challenge with "manual user tracking" is that you will inevitably end up wasting more production than you will gain vs. "setting it and forgetting it".

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Well I get it that passive tracking would be the best option. However if on a budget, does “manually tracking” really pay off regarding more wattage or is it useless to make the structure rotative?

@MichaelK ?

 

[Hedges]

Optimum angle certainly harvests more power. Larger effective area presented to the sun.
500W panels? People buy crappy "cracked backsheet" 250W panels as cheap as $40 (not counting shipping, which can be much more), so "budget" is hardly an excuse.

 

[MichaelK]

From experience the challenge with "manual user tracking" is that you will inevitably end up wasting more production than you will gain vs. "setting it and forgetting it".

I do both. For me it not really about maximum production, it's about maximum utility. I really don't care how many kWh of power I make per day. What I really pay attention to is how many hours I can run this or that. I always mention my well-pump. That's the biggest power hog on my homestead, but also the biggest time consumer. On days I want water, I am running the pump longer than any other single load.

What does that mean in the real-world? It means I can start pumping at ~7:30AM by rotating the panels Eastward, and keep the pump running till ~4:30PM rotating them Westward. So, Tracking gives me ~9 hours of pumping. With a fixed array of the same wattage, that would be maybe 5 hours, close to double.

So, I really don't focus a bit on wasted production. I only focus on wasted time. On days I am not pumping water, I don't even bother to check.

BTW, I also have to add the entertainment factor. I'm out in the utility room with my morning coffee at 7:00AM to watch the sunrise on the charge controller. Once all the arrays are lit, I'm out there tweeking one array left, and another array right to eliminate shading and see how many extra watts each tweek gives me. It's better than television!

 

[Crowz]

From experience the challenge with "manual user tracking" is that you will inevitably end up wasting more production than you will gain vs. "setting it and forgetting it".

Also with manual tracking eventually it becomes setting it and forgetting it anyways

 

[OzSolar]

I do both. For me it not really about maximum production, it's about maximum utility. I really don't care how many kWh of power I make per day.

I get it. I was sharing personal experience about manually optimizing the array for 8AM then getting called away for 5 minutes which often turns turns in hours then finally around sunset it occurs to me that I've not checked on that array all day long.

 

[efficientPV]

You will probably waste more power not being to utilize the excess when It does exist. I have some east facing panels and my batteries are charged very early. They start producing very early up till noon. I saw a YT video where the guy used the shadow of a pencil to orientate panel optimally every 15 minutes. Amazing how flat the power curve was all day when you do this. My power always goes somewhere and my panels never go over power point voltage. Focusing on maximum power is an antiquated idea left over from when panels were expensive and batteries were cheap.

 

[Haddly Negla]

I don't know, maybe I am stubborn but I am still not convinced...

And I don't pay for the tracker; it's been diyed. Anyways I don't run a really large system. So it works for me when I change the panels position (East-South-West) three times per day... Feel more free. And If ever I'd be out during the day, I'd just set it South.
Sorry Hedges for reopening that case.
I can rotate them from East to West. Best feeling is from the early morning and late afternoon