Solar Panel Guide Discussion

ronlizpatsimon

Hello "D & D",
Yes, I noticed that the laying snow produced more KW than usual for the given amount of cloud. However; I had to wait till 1130 on that day for the snow to slide off the panels. I then finished up with 8.5KW for the day. With a 3.91KW system on an azimuth of 200 degrees and an angle of 45 degrees located in Cambridgeshire UK.
My system was installed in Mid September. My 1st 3 months produced 713 KW X 45p = £320.
My 2nd quarter will be much less than that due to an excess of cloud

davidanddeirdre

ronlizpatsimon wrote: »

Hello "D & D",
Yes, I noticed that the laying snow produced more KW than usual for the given amount of cloud. However; I had to wait till 1130 on that day for the snow to slide off the panels. I then finished up with 8.5KW for the day. With a 3.91KW system on an azimuth of 200 degrees and an angle of 45 degrees located in Cambridgeshire UK.
My system was installed in Mid September. My 1st 3 months produced 713 KW X 45p = £320.
My 2nd quarter will be much less than that due to an excess of cloud

Wish we'd had room for more panels than we have.... could only manage 3.18 units withe our 1.75kW system on the day after the snow fell, after we had cleared the snow off the panels with a brush about 09.30.

John_Pierpoint

That would be "azimuth" in terms of degrees clockwise from North?
Viz:

From North North 0° or 360°............. South 180°
North-Northeast 22.5°....................... South-Southwest 202.5°
Northeast 45°.................................... Southwest 225°
East-Northeast 67.5° .........................West-Southwest 247.5°
East 90° ............................................West 270°
East-Southeast 112.5°........................West-Northwest 292.5°
Southeast 135°.................................. Northwest 315°
South-Southeast 157.5°..................... North-Northwest 337.5°

Future installations could consider these panels, where space is limited:

http://us.sunpowercorp.com/about/the...ficient-solar/

Financed by big oil:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/12/23/sunpower-expands-european-reach-with.html?page=all

don0301

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

That would be "azimuth" in terms of degrees clockwise from North?
Viz:

From North North 0° or 360° South 180° North-Northeast 22.5° South-Southwest 202.5° Northeast 45° Southwest 225° East-Northeast 67.5° West-Southwest 247.5° East 90° West 270° East-Southeast 112.5° West-Northwest 292.5° Southeast 135° Northwest 315° South-Southeast 157.5° North-Northwest 337.5°

no, this has been covered before

azimuth in relation to the sky is regarded as a point of interest, ie in this case the sun.

hard pushed to find the sun to the north in the uk

so in solar panel context it's regarded as south, ie south =0

can people please stop confusing magnetic compass with azimuth

John_Pierpoint

ronlizpatsimon wrote: »

Hello "D & D",
I then finished up with 8.5KW for the day. With a 3.91KW system on an azimuth of 200 degrees and an angle of 45 degrees located in Cambridgeshire UK.

Confusing terminology isn't it?

When talking Solar PV the olden times measurement used is:


-90 is directly East whilst +90 is directly West, and 0 being direct South. Thus, at due South (O degrees), the system performs at 100% of expectations

So 200 = +20 = South South West ?

ronlizpatsimon

I was in the RAF for 22 years (Radar). We were taught that North was Zero Degrees Azimuth; thus my 200 degrees is South South West.
Don, I got 14.7 KW on 2nd Feb. Here it was almost a cloud free day - just a little in the afternoon.

don0301

ronlizpatsimon wrote: »

I was in the RAF for 22 years (Radar). We were taught that North was Zero Degrees Azimuth; thus my 200 degrees is South South West.
Don, I got 14.7 KW on 2nd Feb. Here it was almost a cloud free day - just a little in the afternoon.

yes, you are correct on the ground north =0

however when using azimuth in reference to solar panels it is as i said.

it is just a reference point.

this may help you:

http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/apps4/pvest.php

John_Pierpoint

Fascinating isn't it - it looks like the measurement dates back to medieval star gazing, if not before?

How can you tell a fellow star gazer where the star is?

Set the church clock accurately at noon and then describe the height of the star at midnight.
Where is that? Well in the Northern hemisphere we are all looking South so call that zero degrees,
describe the star as so many degrees left or right of due south.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azimuth

My panels are -45 degrees, ie the sun is square onto them 3 hours before noon GMT, that is South East.

Martyn1981

John, I'll happily put my hands up and admit I found it confusing at first. I blindly accepted that south was zero and got on with it.

Glad to read Don's post, then Wiki'd it. Very interesting, as Don said it's the point of relevant interest - cool (well actually very hot in this instance!).

Now, to spoil everything I've learnt. Presumably in the southern hemisphere the sun stays as the point of reference (for PV), so North becomes zero azimuth again?

Mart.

HalloweenJack

http://www.solarserver.com/service/pvx-spot-market-price-index-solar-pv-modules.html

german panels dropped 4.5% in jan down to 1.07euro per watt