Shading calculator with ground angle?

[boondox]

Hi All,

I am helping a buddy with an installation that will be between two parallel shipping containers with a shed type roof built between them. The panels will not be mounted directly to the shed roof but will be on their own mounts. He wants it this way to get a good angle on the panels without a steep roof. I can't seem to find a shading calculator that lets you set the "ground" angle. If it has a roof angles it assumes you are mounting flat to the roof. Anyone know of one that will let me set both the roof angle AND the panel angle? There must be such a thing for ground mounts on sloped terrain and that would apply to this situation.

Thanks!

 

[svetz]

I think Sam has a 3d shade model... but don't know if it'll do that.

 

[boondox]

Thanks Svetz, I am downloading in now and will poke around.

 

[svetz]

Let us know if it does! BTW, SAM is really big! Use the tutorial video for how to setup/use the shade calculations.

 

[boondox]

You aren't kidding, SAM is big! It seems focused on costs and so on but I will watch the tutorials today. For a quick and dirty, I did find one that has slope:

Sustainable By Design :: Panel Shading

It is funny how hard it is to find a calculator for arbitrary angles, they are mostly optimal angles. But most panels are mounted on an existing roof. I'm still looking for a simple percentage calculator that shows the efficiency hit you at different angles at different times of year.