Slowing Down the Summer Sun

[bcroe]

OK, Virtual Tracking. Besides stretching your sun day, it will add to the energy you can collect under
clouds, something an actual tracker cannot do. There is a lot of VT experimental info on my thread
SUN HOURS, but only you can determine what works for you. Bruce Roe

NScurJn17.jpg

[AzRoute66]

Virtual tracking - appropriate term. Yes, I do see several threads and I am sure I can google up more than enough. Thank you very much.

[ButchDeal]

There are several threads here about it and it is called virtual tracking. It is pretty common in off grid installs to increase charge times. Read up


i would say that this is separate and independent concept from your afternoon weather related azimurh of 171.

[AzRoute66]

I haven't read all of the Off Grid Topics yet, but I did scan all of the titles and didn't see anything like this subject.

I'm here at 31.5 degrees latitude, and when I look at the theoretical tools, I see some usable power in the mornings and afternoons between maybe May and September, well before the sun azimuth is 90 degrees and after it is 270 degrees. By the time the sun is hitting a south facing panel from the side it already has considerable altitude. I am railing right now because getting a battery [more] fully charged is just a matter of TIME, not panels - I say that this because I place a checkmark on my forehead every time I read "it is easier/cheaper just to add a panel" in all of the other threads.

An easterly or westerly facing string would only have to capture enough power to make full charging current (0 load current) in order to be 'interesting'. I 'know' it won't work financially. I know this because if it did, they would be doing it all over the place around here and the technique would be named after some grad student that needed a thesis. I am aware that the southerly faced panel is already collecting a part of those lobes as diffuse irradiance and those lobes don't exist in the winter..

That said, does anyone know of any threads here, simulations, case studies, analysis, etc. of placing some panels with more of an East - West orientation to supplement a southern oriented array? I know that when shading and weather patterns, etc. dictate, it is often desirable to offset entire arrays from true south. In fact, right here the best angle for your main array is 171 degrees due to our late afternoon monsoon storms according to a variety of sources that include weather. Must be something in that.

Butch - the '171 degrees' is not my original research, ok?