For example, take our recent 20kW project in Dawsonville. The rooftop where the panels were installed had 3 standard sized vents along the edge of the building.
These vents cast shawdows on the panels during various times of the day as we rotate the sun.
At one point, we actually measured the effect of the shadows on the nearby panels. Dramatically, these shadowy panels had 80% lower efficiencies! 80%! And a panel that is operating at suboptimum efficiency is not producing full power, thus losing it's owner money!
We immediately modified these vents to no longer cast shadows on the panels.
The takeaway from this post is to carefully consider the environment surrounding your current (or future) solar array. If your house is surrounded by trees they will likely cast shadows on your panels and decrease the efficiency.
We are in no way advocating cutting down trees, instead we are encouraging you to let us help you carefully plan and position your solar panels for maximum power output efficiency and maximum return on investment.
Watch out for plumbing code requirements for clearance from the roof deck. You can't just cut off or modify every vent.
ReplyDeletehttp://electric.phillylicensedcontractor.com