Having installed my own PV panels (3 times) I would argue that almost no price is too expensive to pay someone else to install your PV panels.
All the rest is relatively easy
I will never ever install panels myself on a tile roofā¦
Did it at my in laws, never again.
If you have a flat roof but space is limited there is some trade-off. You put angles on panes you need more space between them (meaning less panels). Or do you just do this sort of thing maxing out the panels as much as you can.
What are the thoughts here for Cape Town.
Thoughts?
CPT, the weather comes in, and you are stuffed. 5.2kw array, <300w for hours, days on end.
So you tried to add more panels, you have WAY too much in summer for months on end
So donāt get solar?
Absolutely, get solar.
Just understand, with Cpt weather, expect it, and donāt get despondent or give up. So what you use more Eskom at times.
You make up for that come summer.
Man, you make hay like no tomorrow, from early till late.
OK, so more panels flat, or fewer at an angle?
The best is to angle them properly North.
If all else fails, go flat, just add more panels to cater for the losses.
Our roof is North North West ⦠the angle is what the angle is ⦠early mornings in winter, blah blah blah ⦠but we get sun till late, at least, ālateā till the sun goes down over Plattekloof hill.
New panels are not on there.
More panels flat.
I read a scientific paper a few years back, which for the life of me I cannot re-find to reference, in any event, I have borne out the gist of the paper with anecdotal experience.
( I think I am quoting the right numbers, but I canāt say they are gospel).
In any event, the paper went something like this:
Flat or perfectly angled panels on a sunny day give you more power than you need, just as @TheTerribleTriplet says.
However, I differ with him under these circumstances:
On an overcast day, a flat panel produces up to four times more power than a perfectly angle North facing panel.
This is because the light is diffuse and comes from all directions in the sky and a sloped panel excludes light from certain directions.
The sloped panels make minimal power. ( It isnāt zero, but it is close).
-We can still call it diddley squat power.
But you can have twice as many flat panels, as perfectly-sloped panels.
So now you have up to eight times diddley squat with a flat configuration instead of just diddley squat with a sloped North array.
Now, 200-300W instead of 40W might mean quite a lot to you in the right circumstances.
It does to me.
Wow, this is very interesting!
I guess this winter ±30 days were ālostā so far that I could hardly get 300w from my array.
Our friend Andy in Aus has found that as well. He lovely cloudy days due to his shading problem.
99% of the combining on a roof that we had to go fix, were crimped and had no protection. Having more than 2 strings combined like this is a recipe for disaster. If you want to avoid fires, donāt do it. For future fault finding, also donāt do it. For replacing a Mppt with a higher voltage Mppt in the future, donāt do it. As far as you can stay away from it, donāt complicate your life. Have everything on eye level and you can isolate, test and even rearrange strings without getting on the roof.
I know you feel there is nothing wrong with it, but out of a installers point of view and for all practical reasons, rather donāt do it.
You kinda left out the second half of my point, which is that it has to be formally, properly, crimped, surge protected, breakers, fuses, etc in a water proof combiner box on the roof. That is the only way you can do it in a way that there is ānothing wrong with itā. Just to be clear.
I absolutely hate those Y-joiners, and inline MC-4 fuses are from the devil as far as I am concerned. IT incentivises and legitimises precisely the thing you have to go and fix all the time
Edit: I edited my post above to make it clearer.
Man, Iām so chuffed when we, @Rautenk and I, came up with this idea way back.
100% in line with this adviceā¦
So easy to test each string. So what it was a few more meters of wire ⦠the end result for years to come ⦠Priceless.
Very neat. I want to do the same.