Article Directory :: Home & Family Articles

The Best Way To Set Your Solar Panel

By Alec Deacon

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 02Mar2012 Word count: 660 Viewed: 23 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

As you may already know, by reading the previous articles on this topic, the amount of sunlight that strikes your photovoltaic panel is the thing that counts as far as the amount of produced energy is concerned. In order to get the most from a sunny day, however, you need to take under consideration another aspect, besides the place where you set the panel: the sun moves on the sky throughout the day, so there are moments during the day when the panel generates less energy. However, there are solutions to this issue.

In this article you will learn a bit about how to mount your system in order to get the most sunlight. Another element which counts is the mounting system you use. You may not have thought about it, but there is more than just one way to mount your panel.

The easiest and cheapest would be the fixed mount. This type does not give your panel any mobility however, so your solar energy generator will be completely stationary while the light source (the Sun) travelsmoves through the sky during the day. If, however, this is your option you should keep in mind that the panel must face south if you live in the northern hemisphere and north if you live in the southern one and that true south or north is not the same with magnetic south or north.

What does that mean? Well, it means that true south is the direction towards the southern end of the axis about which Planet Earth rotates (known as the South Pole). Magnetic south is the direction towards the south magnetic pole, some distance away from the south geographic pole.

Also, as mentioned in a previous article, you have to tilt your panel to an angle equal to the latitude value of your city. Calculate precisely, since, after all, you are building a fixed mount, and cannot move it afterwards.

But if you feel like doing something more practical, you should consider building an adjustable solar panel mount, to which you can change the angle and position if required. According to specialists, it is not required that you change the angle more than twice a year (a reason for which the fixed mount could still be an option). It is also recommended changing the tilt by +15 degrees in the winter and 15 degrees in the summer to increase the efficiency of the solar panel you built by yourself by ¼

Sure, there are also other tracking sytems which are more sophisticated and expensive than the first two described above. Such a mount is programmed to automatically track the path of the sun during the day to maximize the solar radiation that the solar panels receive.

However, I would not recommend spending a large amount on a sophisticated mount, especially if you are at your first solar panel. After all, with the extra money spent on a tracking mount you could just as well buy several other panels and fix them on a cheaper mount.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here

More articles by Alec Deacon

Free Report!
Ten Essential Secrets Of Article Marketing ... Grab Your Free
Copy Now:

Need Content?
Regular Top Quality Content for your Blog, Ezine or Website ...
Delivered Direct,
For Free!
Click For Details