Another solar panel question
Just wondering what the power loss would be from mounting my second panel flat instead of tiltable? I know tilt would be better power wise but thinking flat might be what we do, still deciding. Th...
Forum Discussion
jrnymn7 wrote:
I'm guessing going flat will yield next to nothing in the late fall / early spring?
Not sure what that means. The difference between flat and tilted is greatest when the sun is lower. The sun is lower daily and seasonally so it gets complicated. See macslab on "optimal tilt angle"
You also have the time early and later in the day in the summer when the sun can get behind the panel pointing South. After the March Equinox and before the Fall Equinox, the sun rises north of East and sets north of West so the closer to June 21st the more the sun can be behind the panel early and later in the day.
That is why your "optimal tilt" is less than the optimal for high noon, so you can get some shoulder hour time with the sun on the panel in the summer.
Note here where early the flat is better than tilted till sun gets higher.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26065604.cfm
It is all about the time to make AH from how that plays out and how they came up with an optimal fixed tilt for the whole day
