When installing any SPP, the competent connection of the solar battery and its high nominal efficiency do not yet guarantee large volumes of output. This is due to the physical and technical features of photovoltaics, the efficiency of which directly depends on the position of the panels relative to the sun.
To achieve the maximum possible generation of your station, this factor must be taken into account first.
Basic requirements for the location of solar panels
Let’s list the main requirements for getting the most out of PV modules.
Seat selection
The installation site of the panels can be the roof of a building or a plot of land. In both cases, the following rules must be followed:
- the entire area that the energy-generating elements will occupy must be well lit;
- the presence of other buildings, structures or tall trees nearby, capable of at least partially casting a shadow on the modules, is not allowed;
- it is desirable to place solar panels in such a way as to facilitate access to them for maintenance.
Features of installation on the roofs of houses
This choice is considered optimal if the roof area allows you to obtain the required power, and the design of the mounts – the optimal location of the working surfaces in relation to the sun.
1. Private house or cottage.
A distinctive feature of such buildings, as a rule, is a pitched roof. To get the best performance from your system, you need to:
- place rows of panels parallel to the plane of the roof, if its angle of inclination coincides with the optimal value for a given area and its geographical latitude;
- at a lower or higher angle, the installation of solar panels is carried out on frame structures, which adjust the slope to an optimal level;
- choose for installation preferably slopes facing south (monocrystalline panels), southeast or southwest (polycrystalline batteries);
- the east and west slopes for mounting batteries are not optimal due to a decrease in efficiency by 25-35%.
2. Multi-storey city building.
The main administrative problem of this option is the complexity of approvals for the installation (including the consent of neighbors).
Such a solar power plant will cost more, but the set of solar panels will not have power limitations and problems with giving the panels the desired tilt / azimuth angle.
The auxiliary equipment will be located in the attic or in the basement, next to the electrical panels common to the whole house.
Features of installation on land plots
The location of solar panels in the local area has its own advantages and disadvantages. Basically, this option is chosen for solar power plants of high power, since the roof area for them is not enough.
Installation features suggest:
- fastening the panel system to delta-shaped frame structures or separate risers for each module;
- ensuring the optimal direction and angle of inclination relative to the sun:
- an ideal, albeit expensive, solution using rotary tracker designs. Their use can increase the average annual generation of the system by 25-30%.
A separate requirement is the installation of the modules at a height at which the lower edge of the frames will be located at a height exceeding the maximum level of snow falling in winter.
Installation of solar panels with the optimal angle of inclination
Photovoltaic panels are extremely sensitive to the angle at which solar radiation is incident on the cells. Maximum efficiency is achieved when the working plane of the module is strictly perpendicular to the position of the sun, therefore, to obtain maximum efficiency of the panels, it is necessary to periodically adjust the angle of their installation.
- If the design does not provide for such a possibility, it is recommended to mount the modules at an inclination, which is equal to the geographical latitude of the area plus 10 degrees.
- For manually operated partially movable fastening systems, the tilt is usually changed twice a year. In November, the angle is increased by 10-15 °, in May it is reduced by the same amount.
- SPP with automatic tracker control deploys batteries in real time on its own.
Common mistakes
The most common mistakes that significantly reduce the efficiency of a solar array are:
- the wrong choice of the type of photovoltaic panels, depending on their location and the climatic features of the region;
- ignoring the recommendation to periodically correct the angle of inclination, if possible.