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Panels angle in very sunny County

LUAY

New Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2022
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7
Dears,
I'm leaving in very sunny hot climate county located at a latitude of 32.7157° N ,
The installer has set panels angle to 30° fixed, which is optimal angle for all year, but my most consumption/need will be in the summer, if l change the angle to 20 or 15(summer angle)will it make a huge difference? To what percent?
 
Im at 38Lat. Mine are at 45deg. Best for winter is 53deg. 45 was easier to frame and minimal winter production loss. Snow slides off once sun is out good sbove 30F. I can push it a little from above and its an avalanche.
 
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"Perfect" for fixed or semi fixed panels depends on several factors.

If you have some shading blockage at particular sun angles there is no use to factor that into optimized angle.

For example, if you have trees or a mountain to your morning sun angle you might get a little more net daily amount by azumuth and elevation to optimize a little toward the afternoon sun since morning has less exposure.

You do get reasonable gain by readjusting tilt for four seasons or at least winter/summer seasons. If you get snow in winter, the optimum steeper tilt for lower to horizon sun angle in winter also gives you better snow shedding which will increase output.

All this assumes you have easy access and capability to adjust tilt of panels.

The numbers of the charts represent average number of full sun (1kW per square meter) hours per day. This is always less than daylight hours in a day. You have to factor in any panel temperature caused increase or decrease for your particular panels. For example, if you have 10 kW array at your average temp and 4.5 hours of equivalent full sun you should capture 45 kWH's per day.
 
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if l change the angle to 20 or 15(summer angle)will it make a huge difference? To what percent?
It sounds like you need to get more production from your system. If you describe your system, perhaps we can find additional ways to optimize what you have or suggest easy solutions for additions.
 
I have rotating mounts, so I can fine-tune production when I need maximal output. What I find in the real-world is when I make minor angle adjustments I can increase output by 10-15%. So yes, altering the angle can be beneficial, but depending on how hard it is to make adjustments, it might not be worth your time?

I'm guessing since you mentioned increased summer needs, that's for air-conditioning? At my own place, air-conditioning is now important enough that I added an additional array facing due West instead of South. That way, my controller is not over amped at noon when the West facing panels are not putting out much, but I have additional power after about 4pm when the south-facing panel output starts seriously dropping. So, I'm still running the air-con at full power at 6pm, when my other panels are in total shade.

As MS outlines above, give us some additional information about your system so we can help you fine-tune your own output.
 
I have vertical panels to thwart snow and that’s not terrible far off here in winter. In summer I’m “way off” but I get excess production so I don’t care.

Angle differences aren’t as critical as I was told years ago. I got as much as 44A charging and 94V panels this winter. The math says that’s pretty good for 800W of panels that the math says are way off kilter.
Yes, there’s a reduction. So what? Buy a couple more panels imho.
YMMV
 
Is there is any major difference if my panels tilt is not perfect is summer
Use this site to estimate production based on your location.


You can enter in the size and orientation of your array, as well as a few other parameters, and then change that orientation setting to see what the changes are to the output by month and year.

At a latitude of 32° then reducing the panel tilt will, in general, increase Summer output potential at the expense of Winter production potential as well as reduce annual production. I say output potential because actual production depends on a lot more than the array and its orientation, and we know nothing of your system nor how it is configured.

How much depends on
- individual location factors, e.g. local climate which the website linked accounts for using average weather/climate data for that location,
- the actual set up of the system, e.g. the DC:AC ratio of panel to inverter, and
- what constraints on production there might be, which will depend on whether the system is grid-tied or off-grid, whether there are limits on exporting power, whether the system has sufficient loads, including storage, to use the full production potential of a system and so on...
 
Use this site to estimate production based on your location.


You can enter in the size and orientation of your array, as well as a few other parameters, and then change that orientation setting to see what the changes are to the output by month and year.

At a latitude of 32° then reducing the panel tilt will, in general, increase Summer output potential at the expense of Winter production potential as well as reduce annual production. I say output potential because actual production depends on a lot more than the array and its orientation, and we know nothing of your system nor how it is configured.

How much depends on
- individual location factors, e.g. local climate which the website linked accounts for using average weather/climate data for that location,
- the actual set up of the system, e.g. the DC:AC ratio of panel to inverter, and
- what constraints on production there might be, which will depend on whether the system is grid-tied or off-grid, whether there are limits on exporting power, whether the system has sufficient loads, including storage, to use the full production potential of a system and so on...
Thanks for the explanation, for my case the most needed output is in the summer, so I'm looking for the maximum production system can do.
about the wither here, generally in the summer, it's very sunny about 40+ C degree , and I'm having only 10 degrees difference then the optimal tilt for summer, so I'm asking is it worth declining more my panels or not.
 
I have rotating mounts, so I can fine-tune production when I need maximal output. What I find in the real-world is when I make minor angle adjustments I can increase output by 10-15%. So yes, altering the angle can be beneficial, but depending on how hard it is to make adjustments, it might not be worth your time?

I'm guessing since you mentioned increased summer needs, that's for air-conditioning? At my own place, air-conditioning is now important enough that I added an additional array facing due West instead of South. That way, my controller is not over amped at noon when the West facing panels are not putting out much, but I have additional power after about 4pm when the south-facing panel output starts seriously dropping. So, I'm still running the air-con at full power at 6pm, when my other panels are in total shade.

As MS outlines above, give us some additional information about your system so we can help you fine-tune your own output.
Thanks for your reply, I understand that by having the right title angle, I may get 10% more, my doubt was whether in a very sunny climate does 10 degrees higher than the most optimal summer angle will make a difference in the output of the planes or not. if it does by let's say 10% then I'm going to change it.
 
It really depends on how much output you are currently getting from your current arrangement.
You could already be getting all that you can.
Or at least very close. It might not be worth the effort.
 
so I'm asking is it worth declining more my panels or not.
I'm not doing your homework for you.

I gave you a link to a tool to specifically answer the question for your location, array and system set up.

If you are too lazy to use it, that's on you. If you don't understand how use it, then click on the Help button and read the manual. If you are still stuck, then by all means come back for some help.
 
I'm not doing your homework for you.

I gave you a link to a tool to specifically answer the question for your location, array and system set up.

If you are too lazy to use it, that's on you. If you don't understand how use it, then click on the Help button and read the manual. If you are still stuck, then by all means come back for some help.
I checked the tool (homework), it's very useful and yes it makes a difference in summer time. I'm going to decline panels more to 20 to gain more during summer.
 
I'm in Asia, recommended angle is 12deg summer -8Deg winter.
So I just lay mine flat, makes constructing the mounting brackets easy ........ seems to work.
 

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Do you have net metering, so surplus production goes into the grid? If so, do you have time of use, so a kWh is valued differently different times of the day?

Depending on what you do with the power, you might want some panels aimed at summer morning sun and some at summer afternoon sun, to better match production to your A/C usage. Especially if you are off-grid, and part of the day battery is full so available production is wasted.
 
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