This also means that you build all of them in a consistant controlled factory setting with all your tools and equipment.

As the cost of the panel itself continues to come down this makes way more sense than south-facing panels. Another thing that is a HUGE opportunity for any energetic entrepreneur is "solar fences" on farms - vertical panels installed in place as "fencing" on N-S runs (so the panels face E-W or at least sort of). Alternating bi-facial panels running between new (or even existing) poles along a fence line impact NO arable land, are no more at risk than if they were just ground mount and will generate less but more EVEN power throughout the day. And in palces with snow cover prelim real-world tests show decent performance even on cloudy days; vertical panels "clean" themselves mostly so maintenance can be minimal. Electrical setup is key. Healthy, young, ambitious? Now is the time to start a business!

Awesome to see Topsy hauling solar!

Great shot of the truck rolling out and the crane hasn't even rigged down yet.

Love to see it! You all are my role models and I wish to be doing what you're doing one day.

In Australia we face them north the sun comes up in the NE and go down in the NW so we have sun all day round

ive been seeing the east west orientation with the new 2 sided vertical panels, didn't know people did that with the traditional ones.

you could carry 5x more per bed if they nest-packed. you dont need that much beam across the bottom, esp after fastening to roof. just a little gusset for self weight while loading

You could also arrange your panels in 2 arrays, on facing SSE and the other facing SSW. This will catch the early morning sun and late afternoon/evening sun.

And at 1pm both sides see some sun and pruduce energie. Somebody said steep or vertical set ups make a lot of sense in snowy regions because that way the snow doesn't stays on the panel that long

Nice. For a DIY'er my biggest problem is the permits and finding a PE to stamp the inspectors ass.

I love it! Great job. Wonder if you could build them and ship to US or? at a competitive cost. Or, just ship parts for easy assembly worldwide. Patent this idea.😊

Ok, I have to ask... what is the benefit of using bifacial panels in an A-frame array oriented East - West? Wouldn't the A-frame eliminate all of the benefits of the bifacial panels?

👍🏼

Have you considered completely vertical bifacing panels?

@ProFriend

3 ай бұрын

Current solar cell designs produce the most power when pointing directly at the sun, so pointing at the horizon significantly reduces power output. For each latitude, there's a good "average" angle that delivers maximum average output year 'round. They do make solar "tracker" systems that use gimbaled panel arrays and small geared motors to keep the array pointed directly at the sun the entire time it's in the sky. Also, the wind load of a vertical panel is much greater than a sloped one that sheds the wind better.

@raphiseth6942

3 ай бұрын

@ProFriend at snowy places in the north where the sun is not so high. The vertical biraciapl panels have a big advantage. They can make power in the winter without somebody clearing the snow from the panel. A bifacial panel can produce 1,5 the peakpower at 1,20 the price. It's perfect for the east west set up. The edison setup is already very steep, nearly vertical.

I’ve been trying to get solar panels put up on my property for the last year but my electric company (XCEL Energy) will not let it happen, they refuse to sign the approval to be connected to the grid. I’m so sick of dealing with those stupid assholes!!!

CAN I MAKE MY OWN SOLAR PANELS?

@AdrianMcDaid

3 ай бұрын

How you mean ? The actual panel it's self ? No.

,🙂

While I agree with the intuition that south-facing panels don't provide a very even power curve, I can't see that east-and-west panels at 180° to each other is a good solution either. Each of those panels is maxxing out at 6 (18) O'clock solar time, which in general terms is before and after, respectively, the peak demands of the day. I would think an alignment that's more like 9-and-15 (so panels at 90° to each other) or indeed 10-and-14 (60° apart) solar time would provide a more useful power production curve. You might also want to consider the angle of elevation as it seems a lot of installs are based - bizarrely - around maxxing out power production at noon on the summer solstice... finding the optimum angle at, say, mid-morning and mid-afternoon on a date like the equinoxes is probably a better plan.

Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have the panels rotate throughout the day? Then you would only need half the number of panels and they would always be facing the sun correctly.

@Derkson

3 ай бұрын

More expensive to install, takes energy to turn them and it becomes a point of failure and maintenance because now you have moving parts. It is an option, don't get me wrong, but many places do the math and find it not worth it.

@ProFriend

3 ай бұрын

One of my friends has a "tracker" panel array. It works great. There's almost no mechanical load on the geared-down motors that keep it pointed at the sun, and the amount of power they use is minuscule. But, the arrays are large and expensive.

If your loads exceed your max PV production (pretty likely in an industrial setting) then east-west isn't achieving much. For a fixed number of panels due south is always going to result in max yield.

You would bolt those down in southern California inland empire or they would fly away