pv array tilt angle
Solar tracking devices, mounted with photovoltaic (PV) panels, allow the panels to exactly track the sun’s path across the sky and can increase the yield of solar energy installations by as much as 40 percent compared to stationary panels. Solar trackers have been around since about 1980, but their increasing use in both commercial-scale and residential solar energy projects is a direct result of proven, improved solar capture efficiencies. This increase, though largely driven by commercial-scale solar energy installations, has translated into lower costs and more reliable tracking systems for homeowners and small businesses as well.
Stationary solar panels are fixed, either by the installer or the homeowner, at the optimum angle for solar exposure; that is, in Australia, at 35 degrees latitude south, where the sun’s declination varies from 78.5 in the summer to 31.5 in the winter, most rooftop systems will rely on an approximately 52.3 degrees declination, allowing for a 22.6-roof tilt angle (or a 5/12 roof pitch). Unfortunately, in more northern climes, the angle of the sun’s rays in summer varies from winter by much more than 60 degrees, which means targeting summer sunlight makes winter solar energy generation somewhat iffy.
Solar trackers solve this problem. The basic solution, a single axis horizontal tracker, follows the sun across the sky from morning to evening, optimizing solar performance during spring and summer days, when the sun is higher in the sky. Unfortunately, they are less useful the farther north one goes, since (as noted above) the variance the sun’s angle is greater between summer and winter, so any setting along the horizontal diminishes performance the other 60 percent of the year.
Vertical axis trackers work better at higher latitudes, enabling solar panels or arrays to track the sun
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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Solar Trackers, The Most Advanced Panels
