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You're Doing It All Wrong: Solar Panels Should Face West, Not South
HughPickens.com writes In the U.S., a new solar project is installed every 3.2 minutes and the number of cumulative installations now stands at more than 500,000. For years, homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south to capture the most solar energy over the course of the day. Now Matthew L. Wald writes in the NYT that panels should be pointed west so that peak power comes in the afternoon when the electricity is more valuable. In late afternoon, homeowners are more likely to watch TV, turn on the lights or run the dishwasher. Electricity prices are also higher at that period of peak demand. "The predominance of south-facing panels may reflect a severe misalignment in energy supply and demand," say the authors of the study, Barry Fischer and Ben Harack. Pointing panels to the west means that in the hour beginning at 5 p.m., they produce 55 percent of their peak output. But point them to the south to maximize total output, and when the electric grid needs it most, they are producing only 15 percent of peak.
While some solar panel owners are paid time-of-use rates and are compensated by the utility in proportion to prices on the wholesale electric grid, many panel owners cannot take advantage of the higher value of electricity at peak hours because they are paid a flat rate, so the payment system creates an incentive for the homeowner to do the wrong thing. The California Energy Commission recently announced a bonus of up to $500 for new installations that point west. "We are hoping to squeeze more energy out of the afternoon daylight hours when electricity demand is highest," says David Hochschild, lead commissioner for the agency's renewable energy division, which will be administering the program. "By encouraging west-facing solar systems, we can better match our renewable supply with energy demand."
hedge your bets and go 50/50 south and west. Maybe 50% southwest, 25% west, 25% south and setup a water wheel and perhaps an agrarian society.
I'm installing solar neutrino panels, and facing them down. That way I can get power at night when I really need it.
Obviously the article covers this...
What article?
They should spin, so the heavier electrons settle around the outside of the disk for easy collection. This would also allow more light to get through in the center of the panel without the electrons casting a shadow.
What article?
Don't you read the newspaper?
There are two kinds of solar systems: "passive" systems collect the sunlight that hits your home, and "active" systems collect the sunlight that hits your neighbors' homes, too.
-- Dave Barry, "Postpetroleum Guzzler"
Unfortunately, said small black holes often result in consuming the head attached to them, often resulting in what is colloquially referred to as rectal cranial inversion.
Good point. It's amazing that the article didn't mention which way your roof slants. I don't know how they forgot about your tree though.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
You guys still all have the wrong approach.
You're talking about moving hundreds of millions of panels to track the sun.
Clearly, the better approach is to use fixed panels, and just move the sun to a better location . . .
hawk