Solar setup

Depends on cloud cover and time of day. See above ;)

Example - semaphore is at latitude -26, but highest average year round output is at elevation 65 degrees, and 25 degrees would get him only 80% of what he would average at 65 degrees
I think that you and I are measuring it differently. You stated
@Roy_ZA

If you can, point your panels north at about 60 degrees elevation (angle up from ground. i.e., 90 degrees is flat on ground and 0 degrees is standing the panel facing straight forward like a sign post) - this way you get pretty decent year round generation, and optimize well for winter
That is why I qualified it:
Panel elevation is typically calculated the same way as roof pitch, with 0degrees being the horizontal plane.
 
I think that you and I are measuring it differently. You stated

That is why I qualified it:
derp I hadn't realized, you were talking about the plane the panel sits on
with 0degrees being the horizontal plane
, and not the direction of the normal of the panel's plane

90-25 = 65 as I simulated, so we are in agreement :ROFL:

What you call roof pitch, I am familiar with calling zenith, with elevation being the difference between zenith and a right angle (elevation being elevation above the horizon).

The reason for the distinction between zenith and elevation is that zenith takes into account azimuth, and is therefore the minimum angle between the face of the panel (vector normal to the plane the panel sits on) and the vector of the sun's apparent location relative to a flat and plumb plane on the ground
 
derp I hadn't realized, you were talking about the plane the panel sits on , and not the direction of the normal of the panel's plane

90-25 = 65 as I simulated, so we are in agreement :ROFL:

What you call roof pitch, I am familiar with calling zenith, with elevation being the difference between zenith and a right angle (elevation being elevation above the horizon).

The reason for the distinction between zenith and elevation is that zenith takes into account azimuth, and is therefore the minimum angle between the face of the panel (vector normal to the plane the panel sits on) and the vector of the sun's apparent location relative to a flat and plumb plane on the ground
No sweat :cool:
What tool do you use to generate the graphs?
 
a few thousand lines of matlab - I canablized it mostly from my thesis which was to do with modeling Concentrated Solar Power collectors of various new designs and materials
Have you tried licensing it?
 
Hey can you check Kyalami corner. CNR main road and r55
I live near there - do you know what your roofs' azimuth and elevations are? I can add that to the simulation

That way you know what each of your roofs are worth every month

I'll run the north facing panel script in the meantime now
 
Hey can you check Kyalami corner. CNR main road and r55
Given the really high number of black days you get in summer, if your plan is to off grid without a generator, I would say anything around 70 degrees is pretty good for you. Flatter if you want to survive black days in summer better (up to lets say 85 degrees), and steeper for more winter production (down to 65 degrees). - I'd go with 70 or 75 if possible.

Expect your summers to have up to 5 consecutive black days (you're going to need a lot of batteries bud) and your winters up to 3 days.

kyalami ah raw.png
kyalami ah.png
 
Given the really high number of black days you get in summer, if your plan is to off grid without a generator, I would say anything around 70 degrees is pretty good for you. Flatter if you want to survive black days in summer better (up to lets say 85 degrees), and steeper for more winter production (down to 65 degrees). - I'd go with 70 or 75 if possible.

Expect your summers to have up to 5 consecutive black days (you're going to need a lot of batteries bud) and your winters up to 3 days.

View attachment 1185378
View attachment 1185380
Thanks. It's a slab roof so angle shouldn't be an issue when building the mountain i doubt I'll manage to go fully offgrid but can always use it as a backup.
 
Been thinking about going down this route too. One of the Solar companies quoted me +- R200k

Deye 8kw Hybrid Inverter
16 solar panels
2 TSE POWER 4.8kw 100ah LIFE PO BATTERIES
Installation etc etc
(All this come to R170k)

2 Solar geysers (R30k)

Current usage 1600KWH without Solar geysers

They said with the geysers we can expect to save around 40% per month.

I’m a total noob to all this but I don’t think something smells right here so I’m coming to you trusty folk
 
Been thinking about going down this route too. One of the Solar companies quoted me +- R200k

Deye 8kw Hybrid Inverter
16 solar panels
2 TSE POWER 4.8kw 100ah LIFE PO BATTERIES
Installation etc etc
(All this come to R170k)

2 Solar geysers (R30k)

Current usage 1600KWH without Solar geysers

They said with the geysers we can expect to save around 40% per month.

I’m a total noob to all this but I don’t think something smells right here so I’m coming to you trusty folk
Dump the solar geyser bump up your panels. For 30k you can 8 to 10 more panels. I have solar Geysers and would hands down add that money onto the installation I did. I have a sunsynk 8kw and hubbles I'm super happy with.

You can see how my installation went.


I'm sure others can also comment if this is a better approach.
 
Dump the solar geyser bump up your panels. For 30k you can 8 to 10 more panels. I have solar Geysers and would hands down add that money onto the installation I did. I have a sunsynk 8kw and hubbles I'm super happy with.

You can see how my installation went.


I'm sure others can also comment if this is a better approach.
I agree, especially if you can’t feed back to the grid. Less efficient but much cheaper (when a PV system is already in place) and works better in cloud cover as well
 
Given the really high number of black days you get in summer, if your plan is to off grid without a generator, I would say anything around 70 degrees is pretty good for you. Flatter if you want to survive black days in summer better (up to lets say 85 degrees), and steeper for more winter production (down to 65 degrees). - I'd go with 70 or 75 if possible.

Expect your summers to have up to 5 consecutive black days (you're going to need a lot of batteries bud) and your winters up to 3 days.

View attachment 1185378
View attachment 1185380
So just to confirm the frame must be at 70 degrees. So almost vertical?
 
So just to confirm the frame must be at 70 degrees. So almost vertical?
Yes. The face of the panel must be 70 degrees up from the horizon (i.e., facing mostly completely up toward the sky; and the angle between the ground and the back side of the panel being 30 degrees)
 
Yes. The face of the panel must be 70 degrees up from the horizon (i.e., facing mostly completely up toward the sky; and the angle between the ground and the back side of the panel being 30 degrees)
Thanks makes sense now
 
Been thinking about going down this route too. One of the Solar companies quoted me +- R200k

Deye 8kw Hybrid Inverter
16 solar panels
2 TSE POWER 4.8kw 100ah LIFE PO BATTERIES
Installation etc etc
(All this come to R170k)

2 Solar geysers (R30k)

Current usage 1600KWH without Solar geysers

They said with the geysers we can expect to save around 40% per month.

I’m a total noob to all this but I don’t think something smells right here so I’m coming to you trusty folk
sounds like very expensive with you water being solar heated - if you're willing to send me a PM with where you are I can work out how many panels you need for your roof

I cant imagine two 100Ah 16s LiFePo and a 8 kW inverter being more than R70k, so I dont know where that other 100k is going
 
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