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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2016 04:10pm
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I was wondering why my panel output was down this past winter season, the weather was actually milder than the previous season then it hit me, I forgot to change the angle of the panels from 46 degrees to 42 degrees to account for the lower horizon so I got less direct exposure.... but all in all the system did very well.
Previous season I used the generator a total of fifty hours or under five gallons of gas and this season 45 hours and 4 gallons with the generator charge season starting in November and finishing in February.
Next season I am shooting for zero generator by adding two more panels and possibly two more batteries but in no hurry now because from now till November I am already producing way more power than I can use.
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littlesalmon4
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2016 04:16pm - Edited by: littlesalmon4
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I am with you. Power is a little thin Dec and Jan. After that I don't use all i generate. Thinking of experimenting with wind for the slow months instead of more solar. I will have to re-evaluate once this becomes a full time thing.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2016 08:44pm
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I don't have the pages (bookmarks) at my fingertips, but some studies have shown that making seasonal changes can have less benefit than washing the panels every month (for places with scant rainfall).
Thinking that I wanted to maximize the use of the sun, wring out every watt I could, I built our pole mount to have an easy tilt adjustment. I have not changed it from it's "almost best for winter" setting for about 4 years now. It just didn't make all that much difference to how long the batteries took to recharge the previous days use. I like taking the easy way out.  YMMV.
It helps that the PV array was sized with shorter winter days in mind. IOW we have more PV than what is generally needed for the longer summer days.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2016 09:24pm
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Don:
Being that we are at very different locations and have radically different panel exposures I have designed my panels as ground based so they can be cleaned and maintained daily (thanks to close proximity of Douglas Fir trees) and a two hour max charge window each day, (as you know, I have a lousy location for solar) but the fact that changing the angle from 46 to 42 degrees did improve panel output consistently by 0.65 to 1.20 amps over previous readings and in my micro solar world that can make all the difference.
As far as studies go, I'll go with personal experience every time.
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littlesalmon4
Member
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2016 12:15pm
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You defiantly have some charging challenges there. With 3 100watt panels I see 1.5 amps on a heavy clouded day. Blue bird blue I have seen over 12 amps on my charge controller.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2016 12:48pm
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Probably the farther north you are, the more the sun angle will change and the more need to change the angle.
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