Solar Panels- Another Step Toward Independence

RLS7201 wrote:


Titles-titles, every bodies got titles.......
My solar panel lifts controller switch is in the same compartment as my charge controller. It makes no difference where I'm at, as long as the panels are pointing south, I get about 40% increase in energy, according to the display on my MPPT controller, when I tilt my panels to the correct angle.

Richard

Then you haven't done the math correctly. If the only time you have an increase of 40% is when they are tilted up (assuming you are always parked in the right direction), then it's only a 40% increase X amount of the time they are up. If it's 50% of the time, then it's only a 20% total increase.

I'm not arguing that you should get rid of them. If it works for you, thats awesome. I'm arguing someone who is building a system, should add panels with that money, if they have roof space. It's simply best practice in the industry.

If you want to piss on my education, fine. But, the simple fact is your math just isn't right and the strategy you used isn't a good one for most new installs.

climb.on wrote:
I have dove the math many times (I’m a NABCEP certified installer), for both residential installs and RV, water pumping, etc. Calcs on an RV are very difficult to really be accurate with, since you are always in a different place and always positioned at a different azimuth. 40% might work out on paper for perfect conditions IF you always had your RV parked in the same place, at the right orientation and IF you actually tilted the panels every time you could. In reality the gain is much less than than 40%. There’s a good reason nobody uses trackers and tilt adjustments anymore in residential and commercial installs. It just makes more economic sense, if you have the space, to add more panel to make up for the losses of a less than ideal tilt (or azimuth). By all means if you don’t have the space, tilt and azimuth adjustments are about all you can do.

Titles-titles, every bodies got titles.......
My solar panel lifts controller switch is in the same compartment as my charge controller. It makes no difference where I'm at, as long as the panels are pointing south, I get about 40% increase in energy, according to the display on my MPPT controller, when I tilt my panels to the correct angle.

Richard

FWC wrote:
Agreed on the tilting panels, unless you are planning on staying in one location for a long time, it is unlikely that you will end up tilting them. Easier to add more panels than dealing with tilting.

On closer inspection, are your mounting brackets covering some of your solar cells? If so this can have a surprisingly large impact - reducing the current from ALL the cells in that string. It may be worth getting some narrower extrusions.

More panels! No tilting! The additional panels will more than offset any loss due to flat vs. tilted installation...

I have dove the math many times (I’m a NABCEP certified installer), for both residential installs and RV, water pumping, etc. Calcs on an RV are very difficult to really be accurate with, since you are always in a different place and always positioned at a different azimuth. 40% might work out on paper for perfect conditions IF you always had your RV parked in the same place, at the right orientation and IF you actually tilted the panels every time you could. In reality the gain is much less than than 40%. There’s a good reason nobody uses trackers and tilt adjustments anymore in residential and commercial installs. It just makes more economic sense, if you have the space, to add more panel to make up for the losses of a less than ideal tilt (or azimuth). By all means if you don’t have the space, tilt and azimuth adjustments are about all you can do.

climb.on wrote:
Tilt lifts can be helpful if you don’t have anymore space on your roof. If you have the space, just take the money you would spend on the lift and buy another panel or two. One more panel will make up for what you lose having them flat. Plus, you never have to get up there and adjust them. That’s the strategy residential installs use now that panels have done down so much in price.

Do the math. It's about a 40% increase when you tilt the panels. So to match the tilt increase you would have to add 40% more panels or more.

Richard

Tilt lifts can be helpful if you don’t have anymore space on your roof. If you have the space, just take the money you would spend on the lift and buy another panel or two. One more panel will make up for what you lose having them flat. Plus, you never have to get up there and adjust them. That’s the strategy residential installs use now that panels have done down so much in price.

Here is one company making 12 volt solar panel lifts.
SolaRVector.

I have Keven's first design lifts and they work great. I suspect his second design lifts are even beetter.

Richard

opnspaces wrote:
That's a really clean looking setup. I agree with the others though on the concern over the covered cells. Can you turn the connector brackets over? Put the L so it goes down the side and wraps under the panel. Then put screws in the panels from the side.

Thanks, I actually considered that....just haven’t really studied it yet. Hopefully, that’s a good easy remedy! memtb

That's a really clean looking setup. I agree with the others though on the concern over the covered cells. Can you turn the connector brackets over? Put the L so it goes down the side and wraps under the panel. Then put screws in the panels from the side.

I think you are doing more harm than good, with your tilt setup. The brackets on the long edges are partially covering the cells on all 4 panels. This is very likely significantly reducing your output. (some panels perform better than others if they have bypass diodes but it's still significant). See this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Np7kvmj1s