Tilting solar panels.

Is it still pisshed down at yours ?
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Sun shining fit to break the cobbles. But....
Serious injury to big toe,( well it bled a lot and it hurts), prevents me from getting on a ladder atm. Photos will appear later in the week. Honest
 
To be fare it was just surface rust on the edges but rather than paint them again I’ve covered them.
 
‘Tis finished. Well almost.
Was going to fit gas struts, but not at £165 I’m not. So...... looks like rigid supports. Possibly 18mm box or angle mild steel.

Anyone wish to suggest panel angles. If 90o was vertical, I reckoned 70o, 45o, and 30o. What say you.
An astronomer would tell you that the ideal vertical tilt would equal your latitude. So, zero if you're at the equator, or 56 degrees up if you're like me in central Scotland.
 
An astronomer would tell you that the ideal vertical tilt would equal your latitude. So, zero if you're at the equator, or 56 degrees up if you're like me in central Scotland.
But the sun rises and sets...
So if you were at the equator you would have it tilted to the east in the morning, levelling off as noon approaches and the tilt increases as the afternoon progresses, but this time tilted to the west.

The same is true up in in sunny (hah) Scotland, tracking east to west whilst pointing generally south.
 
‘Tis finished. Well almost.
Was going to fit gas struts, but not at £165 I’m not. So...... looks like rigid supports. Possibly 18mm box or angle mild steel.

Anyone wish to suggest panel angles. If 90o was vertical, I reckoned 70o, 45o, and 30o. What say you.
Definitely makes a difference from 6 amps to 9 amps on a hot day, I have a table where you put your coordinates in, and time of day it will give you direction and tilt angle, done for me by a mathematician friend, I have never used it though, too complicated for me.
 

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But the sun rises and sets...
So if you were at the equator you would have it tilted to the east in the morning, levelling off as noon approaches and the tilt increases as the afternoon progresses, but this time tilted to the west.

The same is true up in in sunny (hah) Scotland, tracking east to west whilst pointing generally south.
Not only that but in Scotland the tilt angle of generally south would be the angle of latitude in Spring and Autumn and up to 23 degree flatter in summer and up to 23 degree steeper in Winter.
Not only that, but all that is for theoretical Scottish clear sky. If cloudy you collect more if flatter because the panels can see more of the hemisphere of illuminated clouds.
In Scotland you probably do best fixing your panels to about 45 degree and turning them to face the sun every few hours.
 
Not only that but in Scotland the tilt angle of generally south would be the angle of latitude in Spring and Autumn and up to 23 degree flatter in summer and up to 23 degree steeper in Winter.
Not only that, but all that is for theoretical Scottish clear sky. If cloudy you collect more if flatter because the panels can see more of the hemisphere of illuminated clouds.
In Scotland you probably do best fixing your panels to about 45 degree and turning them to face the sun every few hours.
Tilting is one thing. Turning would be another kettle of fish entirely.
Big toe, still very sore. But I've got a sock on, going for the complete set later. A trainer that is. 👟
If all okay,I hope to finish the prototype today. If successful, photo's to follow.
 
Definitely makes a difference from 6 amps to 9 amps on a hot day, I have a table where you put your coordinates in, and time of day it will give you direction and tilt angle, done for me by a mathematician friend, I have never used it though, too complicated for me.
It is best to not have the panel at 90 degrees to the Sun in Summer. The hotter a panel gets, the poorer it performs. I hhave proved this on my own panels with a digital ammeter. The difference is not huge but it exists. The need to swing the panels to follow the Sun is not critical either (also checked with ammeter). As someone has already said, if it is cloudy, leaving them flat is the best result.
 
In summer most people will get more than enough with the panels flat. I see tilting panels having two benefits. 1: prolong the period you can harvest enough power only using solar and 2: potentially manage with less panels to get the power you need.
I don’t have tilting panels unfortunately
 
a mate is just changing his lounge suite took one chair to tip today other tomorrow they are electric recliner look like a form of worm motor definitely use a transformer didn’t know whether these motors/drives might work for a tilting mechanism ? ?
 
a mate is just changing his lounge suite took one chair to tip today other tomorrow they are electric recliner look like a form of worm motor definitely use a transformer didn’t know whether these motors/drives might work for a tilting mechanism ? ?
Same thing 👍
 
A actuator wouldn’t work with your panels as they are to close to the roof so no chance of getting a good angle to push them up Del.
 

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