Rules Of Thumb For Designing Solar Panel Power System

When designing a system the first things a professional designer will consider will be the sunlight levels for your area insolation and your total power requirement.

Rules of thumb for designing solar panel power system.

To determine how many solar panels you can actually use it is important that you know how much roof space you have. Here in seattle that would mean the panels face due south and they are mounted at an angle of inclination of 47 5. The rules of thumb in the solar industry are that the panels should face toward the equator and be mounted at an angle of inclination angle between the ground and the panel equal to the degree latitude of the installation site. The optimum performance of a photovoltaic panel is obtained when it s correctly aligned to the sun when the sun is directly overhead.

This usually equates as a fixed mounting to an alignment of around latitude or 15 degrees. Historical design rules varied greatly by latitude. A small pv system could reduce your electricity needs enough to move you to a different tier lowering your rates and saving you a large amount of money. This would mean a 25 tilt in miami a 35 tilt in raleigh north carolina and a 45 tilt in seattle.

Historically modules were tilted at or near the latitude of the project s location. 2 know how much available roof space sq ft you have. Of course you should tilt the panels for maximum power on home systems and that means 15 degrees higher than latitude in winter 15 degrees lower in summer. This orientation optimizes for the sun angles throughout the year pointing the modules as close as possible to the sun s average position in the sky.