Ground Mount array distance to and from

[rjahr]

subarray_1_sideview multi Model (1).pdfNeed some help- Installing ground mount on my new construction- How close can my arrays be - i've got some drop left to right, and as seen in the picture i've drawn a line perpindicular to the bottom panel to see if it clears at 30 degrees-

This will be a solaredge sytsem with 2 inverters running two strings one of 400 w panels one of 300 watt panels on each string x2

[oregon_phil]

You are going to get a variety of answers given the limited amount of information you have provided.

Are those your CAD drawings? If no then, stop here. If yes, then read below:

Since you are CAD capable, you can 3D model your site and proposed solution. In the past, I have used Google sketch up to model my setup. Years ago, they had a simulated sun path/shadowing function where you could vary Month and date to see the effects of shadowing on each array. I haven't kept up with Sketch up but there is a video SUN AND SHADOW Simulation in SketchUp with Curic Sun available.

Good luck!

[J.P.M.]

If I'm looking at the drawing correctly, if you're asking how close the rows of panels can be to one another and still avoid some or all shading of the more northerly rows by the more southerly rows, you have not supplied sufficient information to provide an estimate.

First off, what's the latitude of the application ?
Second, what is the array azimuth.
Third, how much of a penalty are you willing to accept in annual array output for the shading ?

Afyer all that, assuming you want to avoid all array self shading during most periods of significant irradiance throughout the year, the best way to get an estimate is with modeling software but you'll need the above info and a lot more input to any model to get a reasonable estimate. The best model I've seen for shading is a submodule to something called SAM from NREL. The suck there is you'll need to become proficient in using a lot of other parts of the model and that can be time consuming.

There may be other models that are simpler to use.
There is a way to do it by hand to estimate shading avoidance after and before any given solar incidence angle on a sawtooth array of any orientation and then do what are called sunpath diagrams as f(date, time of day) but it's a bit tedious. However, that may or may not be easier than learning the software. Then too, there may well be some model(s) that I'm unaware of that are easy to use. In any case, what you ask is a rather involved exercise.

I'd suggest you peruse the SAM software and help screens to get some idea of the complexity of the problem.

Welcome to the neighborhood and the forum of few(er) illusions.