I would like to see if, with a cloudless sky, the power on the left and right panels will not increase when the middle panels are disconnected. Around 10 o'clock when the batteries are still not charged.
Another trick especially useful with panels at 45° angles is to increase the ground Albedo that is to put down white crushed stone or a white Limestone sand in the area immediately in front of the panels for as large in area as you can have available. That extra bounce lighting will increase the panel output by 10 to 15%.
@@OffGridBasement Ever go to a beach on a sunny day? Remember having to squint because the sand is so brightly reflecting the sun? Well your solar panels will also see more light bounced from the ground if you have white material on the ground. Even better is a sheet of polished aluminum, but white marble crushed stone lasts longer.
I was a bit critical until I read about the HOA issue. Best to keep them out of the shade and use the best angle you can. The shade is more limiting than the small benefit you can get from the 10 degrees.
No problem! That is the last thing people think of. I'm going to work on getting them out of the shade. Hopefully just moving them forward and adjusting back to 45° does the trick.
you should take one brand of panels roughly output the same, then put one at the 45 degree and another at the optimal angle, and I would put one at the other extreme of the angles. Then you can daily read the % difference and efficiency.
Where you are located you could probably leave those panels at 45 degrees. Up here, in Northern Wisconsin you MUST move those panels from 45 degrees to about 30 degrees for the winter. If you don't you'll not get the direct sun on the panels which will not give you the full benefit of your panels. You should also have panels located where they do not get any shading as that makes a huge difference in the amount of power that the panels generate.
That is true. I'm right below you in Illinois. My neighborhood has an HoA so I have very limited options for panel placement. I'm very interested to see what my production will in the winter with my current setup.
I really agree I tried a bunch of different angles on mine. And didn't see that much difference here in rochester ny. I noticed more difference in temperatures than anything . Seems like around 50 degrees on a sunny day is when mine put out the most.
That's quite a drop in production, once the shade hit your newly angled panels. I guess you'll be going back to 45° angling. Btw, you have a good looking and knowledgeable.assistant.
i use a pease of pvc pipe on the panels put up right to line up with the sun when the shadow disappears you have it right, thats where a tracker come in it would be nice to follow sun but a little priceee
It is kindly recommended not to leave solar panels in the shade for long periods of time. The shadow can cause some cells to overheat, and even burn out the cells. The resulting hot spots can affect power generation and product life.
You should try the Elejoy EY800W solar panel multimeter, much better than messing about with a normal multimeter and trying to work out the output in watts, the Elejoy has an auto MPPT that keeps testing every few seconds (there is a delay between each reading, longer if the previous reading was high wattage, in order to allow the circuitry to cool down, as it's a lot of watts going through a tiny little handheld device), so you can easily move your panels ten degrees and take the next reading.
With the shading coming in from the top its not surprising that the horizontal panels work better as the bypass diodes will be at she side and bypassing rows that are shaded, what you are showing is shading and orentation is more important than angle
My Canadian 375w panels are OK after all. 3 in parrallel... But its the 1400w invertor that is hungry, small print says invertor may use 300w.. Seems high.. Maybe I would have been better with 2 or 3 Tiny Chinese Micro invertors like yo know how much power they use.
I have a 13.5kw array of 48 panels, which are adjusted 4 times a year. I would like to see one panel adjusted and measuring output. I am considering doing here to possibly move my panels more often. Tweaking out a couple additional kWh a month would be worth it. Grid tied Enphase system.
Angle doesn't seem to matter as much there's about a 30° window on angle but the thing that really kills it is if you shade even 1% of the panels you will lose 30% of the output.
@@OffGridBasement I did an experiment on one panel in April: measure the output power into a 4 ohm resistor. Cover half of one cell with a leaf. Noted 40% reduction in output power!
You should be looking at your panel production at different angles across the whole day not just the peak wattage output. The optimal panel angle should match your latitude on the planet then gather data across the whole day for a comparison in KWh.
I agree. I need to get them out of the shade first. The optimal angle is 34°, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Shading issue is most important. Thanks for the comment!
It would be interesting to see if panels were kept pointing directly at the Sun. Just for testing set them out away from the building and use a pointer and point them at the Sun. Changing every half hour or so... think of a Sundial ... that would be a neat test.
You could have made a MUCH better video by simply hooking ONE panel up to a solar panel multimeter which displays watts, and then adjust the angle, show us the multimeter display, adjust the angle some more, and so on. You could have given instant results in the space of a few minutes. Also, why on Earth do you have any of your panels in the shade of the house when you have all that land to move them away from the house onto?
That is a good point about testing a single panel. I just wanted to include all the variables from the previous day. I need to have them in the area they are because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA that prohibits free standing structures in the yard unless it's children equipment. If it's in the rock area it is considered landscaping.
My experiment was really about peak performance and not overall performance. I definitely need to get them out of the shade for a overall performance test.
To be honest, this video didn’t really show anything aside from how bad shading is for solar panel power production. It was kind of a waste of time… why didn’t you pull the panels out more to avoid shading and have a more accurate comparison? Also, the angle you set it to is the optimal set angle for highest year-round production for your location. But if you’re able to alter the angle by season, it would be more efficient in the winter months to have a steeper angle as the sun is lower in the sky, and in the summer months, it’s better to have a less steep angle given the sun is higher in the sky. Being able to properly angle your panels seasonally vs fixed relatively flat panels (~5 degree) can result in upwards of 10-15% gains. Changing angle between 15-40 degrees result in smaller gains, but still tangible. Arguably the biggest angling benefit is if you have articulating / tracking panels that can also articulate east to west to boost early morning and late afternoon / evening production while being at the optimal sun facing vertical angle.
While you are well intentioned, this is a badly designed experiment. You can not test the different angles, unless all strings are facing the same direction, and non of them are in any shade. You should consider redoing the experiment with all strings out of any shade, all facing south, then each string at different angles, and compare at the exact same time. Only one variable is different - the angle. A separate video test would have all strings at the exact same angle toward the sun, but at different angles from pure south, to a little east, and the other to a little west, then test all values at the same time, over several 15 minute intervals, throughout the day. And all of this data is only good for that time of year, it will be different in summer, fall, winter, and spring.
I would like to see the reading on those center panels if they were not being shaded by the house.
If you go to my website you can dig through all the data. Off-grid-basement.com
I would like to see if, with a cloudless sky, the power on the left and right panels will not increase when the middle panels are disconnected. Around 10 o'clock when the batteries are still not charged.
Another trick especially useful with panels at 45° angles is to increase the ground Albedo that is to put down white crushed stone or a white Limestone sand in the area immediately in front of the panels for as large in area as you can have available. That extra bounce lighting will increase the panel output by 10 to 15%.
I didn't know that would actually work. Interesting!
@@OffGridBasement Ever go to a beach on a sunny day? Remember having to squint because the sand is so brightly reflecting the sun? Well your solar panels will also see more light bounced from the ground if you have white material on the ground. Even better is a sheet of polished aluminum, but white marble crushed stone lasts longer.
wow great idea!
I was a bit critical until I read about the HOA issue. Best to keep them out of the shade and use the best angle you can. The shade is more limiting than the small benefit you can get from the 10 degrees.
No problem! That is the last thing people think of. I'm going to work on getting them out of the shade. Hopefully just moving them forward and adjusting back to 45° does the trick.
i agree it don,t seem to make that munch difference
This is one of the best solar channels. Really good practical demonstrations. Thank you!
I'm glad you could get something out of it! Thanks for the comment!
Great video very important test. I have mine at 40° out of 1800w I've seen 1600w at it's best. Keep up the good work 👍
Thanks!
you should take one brand of panels roughly output the same, then put one at the 45 degree and another at the optimal angle, and I would put one at the other extreme of the angles. Then you can daily read the % difference and efficiency.
I actually do have a plan for that. Thanks for the advice!
@@OffGridBasement cool. I look forward to your results.
Where you are located you could probably leave those panels at 45 degrees. Up here, in Northern Wisconsin you MUST move those panels from 45 degrees to about 30 degrees for the winter. If you don't you'll not get the direct sun on the panels which will not give you the full benefit of your panels. You should also have panels located where they do not get any shading as that makes a huge difference in the amount of power that the panels generate.
That is true. I'm right below you in Illinois. My neighborhood has an HoA so I have very limited options for panel placement. I'm very interested to see what my production will in the winter with my current setup.
I really agree I tried a bunch of different angles on mine. And didn't see that much difference here in rochester ny. I noticed more difference in temperatures than anything . Seems like around 50 degrees on a sunny day is when mine put out the most.
Thanks for the comment. I agree, the heat does reduce production. Glad I'm not the only one not getting any benefit from changing the angle.
That's quite a drop in production, once the shade hit your newly angled panels. I guess you'll be going back to 45° angling. Btw, you have a good looking and knowledgeable.assistant.
He is very knowledgeable! I'm going to do more adjustments soon. Thanks for the comment!
i use a pease of pvc pipe on the panels put up right to line up with the sun when the shadow disappears you have it right, thats where a tracker come in it would be nice to follow sun but a little priceee
Tracker would be nice, I just don't have the room. Thanks for the comment.
It is kindly recommended not to leave solar panels in the shade for long periods of time. The shadow can cause some cells to overheat, and even burn out the cells. The resulting hot spots can affect power generation and product life.
I never thought of that! I'll be adjusting soon enough. Thanks.
guess night time kills all solar panels then
You should try the Elejoy EY800W solar panel multimeter, much better than messing about with a normal multimeter and trying to work out the output in watts, the Elejoy has an auto MPPT that keeps testing every few seconds (there is a delay between each reading, longer if the previous reading was high wattage, in order to allow the circuitry to cool down, as it's a lot of watts going through a tiny little handheld device), so you can easily move your panels ten degrees and take the next reading.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Move them a foot further out
I'm going to try that when I set them back to 45⁰ Thanks for the comment.
So in actuality the Original Angle you had the panels set would be optimal for year round performance?
Pretty much. Adjusting has benefits the more north or south you live from the equator.
With the shading coming in from the top its not surprising that the horizontal panels work better as the bypass diodes will be at she side and bypassing rows that are shaded, what you are showing is shading and orentation is more important than angle
That is true! I didn't give the orientation a second thought! Thank you for the great observation.
My Canadian 375w panels are OK after all. 3 in parrallel... But its the 1400w invertor that is hungry, small print says invertor may use 300w.. Seems high.. Maybe I would have been better with 2 or 3 Tiny Chinese Micro invertors like yo know how much power they use.
I can't believe a 1400w inverter would use 300w on standby! There has to be something else at play.
I have a 13.5kw array of 48 panels, which are adjusted 4 times a year.
I would like to see one panel adjusted and measuring output. I am considering doing here to possibly move my panels more often. Tweaking out a couple additional kWh a month would be worth it.
Grid tied Enphase system.
I could get my hands on another
250 watt panel and do some testing.
Thanks for your video. learned a lot.
Thanks!
Great video!
Thanks!
Angle doesn't seem to matter as much there's about a 30° window on angle but the thing that really kills it is if you shade even 1% of the panels you will lose 30% of the output.
Yes. I have already moved out of the shade and set back to 45°. I'm hoping to see some differences tomorrow.
@@OffGridBasement I did an experiment on one panel in April: measure the output power into a 4 ohm resistor. Cover half of one cell with a leaf. Noted 40% reduction in output power!
You should be looking at your panel production at different angles across the whole day not just the peak wattage output. The optimal panel angle should match your latitude on the planet then gather data across the whole day for a comparison in KWh.
I agree. I need to get them out of the shade first. The optimal angle is 34°, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Shading issue is most important. Thanks for the comment!
Guess you need to pull panels out away from the house more.
I'm going to try that when I set them back to 45⁰ Thanks for the comment.
Set up a solar tracker, it adjusts automatically.
I don't think I have the space to get something like that setup. Thanks for the comment.
It would be interesting to see if panels were kept pointing directly at the Sun. Just for testing set them out away from the building and use a pointer and point them at the Sun. Changing every half hour or so... think of a Sundial ... that would be a neat test.
It would be interesting to see how much you could possibly get. Thanks for the comment!
2.6 kWp = 1.1kW max in the charts 🤔
I believe I'm comparing one 800w string of panels over two separate days. That would be 1.6kWp = 1.167kW in the charts.
You could have made a MUCH better video by simply hooking ONE panel up to a solar panel multimeter which displays watts, and then adjust the angle, show us the multimeter display, adjust the angle some more, and so on. You could have given instant results in the space of a few minutes. Also, why on Earth do you have any of your panels in the shade of the house when you have all that land to move them away from the house onto?
That is a good point about testing a single panel. I just wanted to include all the variables from the previous day. I need to have them in the area they are because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA that prohibits free standing structures in the yard unless it's children equipment. If it's in the rock area it is considered landscaping.
Having some of your panels in the shade negates your experiment.
My experiment was really about peak performance and not overall performance. I definitely need to get them out of the shade for a overall performance test.
To be honest, this video didn’t really show anything aside from how bad shading is for solar panel power production. It was kind of a waste of time… why didn’t you pull the panels out more to avoid shading and have a more accurate comparison?
Also, the angle you set it to is the optimal set angle for highest year-round production for your location. But if you’re able to alter the angle by season, it would be more efficient in the winter months to have a steeper angle as the sun is lower in the sky, and in the summer months, it’s better to have a less steep angle given the sun is higher in the sky.
Being able to properly angle your panels seasonally vs fixed relatively flat panels (~5 degree) can result in upwards of 10-15% gains. Changing angle between 15-40 degrees result in smaller gains, but still tangible.
Arguably the biggest angling benefit is if you have articulating / tracking panels that can also articulate east to west to boost early morning and late afternoon / evening production while being at the optimal sun facing vertical angle.
I'm sorry you didn't get much from the video, but thank you very much for the wealth of information.
While you are well intentioned, this is a badly designed experiment.
You can not test the different angles, unless all strings are facing the same direction, and non of them are in any shade.
You should consider redoing the experiment with all strings out of any shade, all facing south, then each string at different angles, and compare at the exact same time.
Only one variable is different - the angle.
A separate video test would have all strings at the exact same angle toward the sun, but at different angles from pure south, to a little east, and the other to a little west, then test all values at the same time, over several 15 minute intervals, throughout the day.
And all of this data is only good for that time of year, it will be different in summer, fall, winter, and spring.
You're correct. The test should have been done differently.