Hi Everyone. 

I have been an unsubscribed lurker for the longest time.

Since 2017 I have been looking at ways to put in a PV system and kept encountering roadblocks. But now with the permission of my amazing wife I have been given the green light. Prices appear to be at their lowest, and electricity getting to the highest.

I have been scouring the interweb and Sungrow keeps cropping up as a very noteworthy contender. So much so that one installer ditched his own Sunsynk and replaced it with a Sungrow. That being said there are many ticks in boxes that make a very strong case for it. One being a 48 hour replacement warranty. 

Let me now get carried away.

I have a got a quote or two or three and wanted to get all of your experience opinions and some professional opinions on the strongest quote if you would be so kind.

I have include the helioscope simulation. But I wondered if it would be better to move the "East" (It's slightly more South East) roof array and move it onto the back flat section of roof which is more North East East. Wouldn't that be more benificial, particularly in winter?

Don't worry about those shadows. Those trees got lopped down.

Also the shadow on that chimney shows West beautifully. This was late in the afternoon.

 

Thanks All

 

Invoice Brendan.pdf helioscope_simulation_15395852_summary.pdf

12 minutes ago, Kershmeister said:

I have include the helioscope simulation. But I wondered if it would be better to move the "East" (It's slightly more South East) roof array and move it onto the back flat section of roof which is more North East East. Wouldn't that be more benificial, particularly in winter?

No, I wouldn't do that. For one thing, in Winter you want the panels angled higher, more towards the sun which will be lower on the horizon. For your location, around 45 degrees, and not flat. But also, at the back of the house you are more likely to catch shadows from peak of the main house's roof, again because of the lower angle of the sun in Winter.

The man who installed my solar panels took several readings from a cell phone app and then used the best option and sun angle..Seeing that you are still in the planning phase, I suggest you do your tests with your cell phone and the app. You have the time for it, use it

He's proposing an east/west layout with 4kW on each side. I have half my panels facing E and half N. The east facing string is still giving useful power (about 25% of total) at 14:30ish, so I think that what is recommended will work.

The quote... hmmm... prices are low right now. And you are right, electricity prices are only going one way (hint: it will not get cheaper).

Who do you get your electricity from? If they have more than two functioning brain cells they are going to notice a significant drop in your monthly consumption, so be prepared for them to come knocking on the door and wanting to have a look see.

Edited November 14, 20241 yr by Bobster.
grammar/clarity

3 hours ago, GreenFields said:

No, I wouldn't do that. For one thing, in Winter you want the panels angled higher, more towards the sun which will be lower on the horizon. For your location, around 45 degrees, and not flat. But also, at the back of the house you are more likely to catch shadows from peak of the main house's roof, again because of the lower angle of the sun in Winter.

I completely understand. And already factored that in with the help of AI.

I Cant remember the pitch hight exactly. But it is under 2m. Probably 1-1.5m. So I worked off 1.5m.

I will still measure the roof completely. But the house is angled that the small flat section points NE (60degrees from North). Which means that rear slope is about the same. The westerly slope is at 330 degrees. So more north than west. Which I quite like.

Obviously putting panels here requires them to be angled. Also Considered. But the width is about 10-12m. So I can definitely get 8 on there. Thought 28-30 degree angle.

Using the inputs:

 

Latitude (φ): -32.33° (Southern Hemisphere)

Day of the year (n): 172 (June 21)

Hour (UTC): 12:00 PM (ω = 180°)

Object height (h): 1.5 meters

 

Calculations:

 

1. Solar Declination Angle (δ):

δ = 23.45° × sin(360° × (284 + 172) / 365)

≈ -23.45°

 

2. Hour Angle (ω):

ω = 15° × (12 - 0)

= 180°

 

3. Solar Elevation Angle (α):

sin(α) = sin(-32.33°) × sin(-23.45°) + cos(-32.33°) × cos(-23.45°) × cos(180°)

α ≈ 43.11°

 

4. Shadow Length (L):

L = h × cot(α)

L = 1.5 × cot(43.11°)

L ≈ 1.86 meters

 

Result:

 

On June 21 at 12:00 PM, the shadow length for a 1.5-meter object at latitude -32.33° is approximately:

 

1.86 meters.

 

 

3 hours ago, Bobster. said:

He's proposing an east/west layout with 4kW on each side. I have half my panels facing E and half N. The east facing string is still giving useful power (about 25% of total) at 14:30ish, so I think that what is recommended will work. Remember that East slope is at 150 degrees. So South East more than East.

The quote... hmmm ((But does it seem pretty fair for the full list?)... prices are low right now. And you are right, electricity prices are only going one way (hint: it will not get cheaper).

Who do you get your electricity from? If they have more than two functioning brain cells they are going to notice a significant drop in your monthly consumption, so be prepared for them to come knocking on the door and wanting to have a look see. On the farm. The farm pays for the 3 phase connection and our house is on prepaid. I don't think the municipality will miss is us in the grand scheme. 

 

3 hours ago, Saluki said:

The man who installed my solar panels took several readings from a cell phone app and then used the best option and sun angle..Seeing that you are still in the planning phase, I suggest you do your tests with your cell phone and the app. You have the time for it, use it

That is precisely why I am querying the layout. I took multiple readings on my phone and couldn't understand the logic. I get the ease of installation and cost etc. But surely one would look more towards max output