Panel Tilt angle ??
I'm now in Quartzsite for a few months, and using my tilt bars for the first time. but can't really decide what angle to use. Right now all 3 panels are different angles,.....kinda ugly. Others here ...
Forum Discussion
Bill T wrote:
Humor me guys, I do not have solar yet but I am hoping to have one in the real near future. I will be getting a portable system since I camp mostly in the southeast, lots of trees.
Now to my comment considering the subject. Why not adjust the panel angle for the highest voltage reading? I understand there are premium times of day for the best performance, say noon time, set the angle at noon and then the performance would average out between daylight and evening. Just curious.
Yes you can pick the best angle at any moment by aiming it and watch for highest Voc and Isc, but that is not how it works for highest daily AH haul.
EG in the summer the sun goes around more than 180 degrees so it can get behind the tilted up panel facing South. To beat that, you pick an angle lower than what is best for high noon to get more time with more amps in the shoulder hours. See that link above on "optimum tilt"
The best thing is to keep the panel aimed at the sun all day, but that is not practical. You can move the panel three times a day and do almost as well. At dusk, aim it SE for next morning, then S mid-morning, then SW mid afternoon. Good enough.
To get a bit more with those three moves, have two tilt angles. Lower for mid-day and higher for SE and SW.
If you have trees on one side and open on the other, you might do better if using a fixed panel to aim it in the middle of your open sky spot and set the tilt for in there. That tilt would be higher than if aimed South. (The sun being lower in there at the open mid-point).
