Re: Do soalr panels have to be “aimed”?

[elnav]

evinger wrote:

The time of year where trackers would benefit the most (winter) is also the time of year when they will least help.

bob

somewhere in illinois

REPLY

That all depends!! I thought as bob did as well but I have been taking note of sunrise and sunset positions for a year now and find that in summer the sun rises in the north east BEHIND a south facing solar panel and also sets behind it to the northwest. There are several hours between when the sun is due east or west of a south facing solar panel and either sunrise or sunset. In practical terms ther is very little difference in hours winter or summer that the sunlight strikes the panel ant a usable angle. There is a difference in how high in the sky the sun gets at noon. The further north or south of the equator you are located the greater this effect becomes.

Trackers can become very expensive real quick when the solar panel array is large enough and weighs more than a few pounds. There is an additional consideration. Winds can be strong enough to rip the solar panels away from their mountings unless they are very secure. By their nature a tracking array is more fragile than a fixed post frame support.

People should be aware of how this is related to their latitude