Why Putting Solar Panels on the Roof Often Doesn’t Give You the Best Yield
When we talk to potential customers, many assume the solar panels must go onto the roof.
Roof mounting is the norm for traditional installation in the suburban environment because lots are small — there’s nowhere else to mount the panels except on the roof!
Most people have no choice — their roof design and orientation determine their solar yield.
Moreover, grid-tied installations are optimized for the benefit of solar installers and utility companies.
Cookie-cutter solutions maximize profits for solar installers because they don’t need to consider each customer’s requirements. They give you whatever is on the shelf and put you through the paperwork conveyor belt to rubber stamp the permits.
Meanwhile, a kWh is a kWh in the eyes of utility companies. The installations aim to maximize yield throughout the day (i.e., use the customer’s roof to print money — buying surplus for 7 cents and selling it to the neighbors for 62) instead of optimizing production when the individual consumer uses the most power.
Unfortunately, such a utility-centric (not user-centric) approach is deeply engrained in how people think about solar solutions, regardless of their situations. Yet, what’s best for the solar installers and utility companies may not align with the consumers’ best interests.
Even if you do your homework, there’s almost nothing on optimizing peak solar yield as a function of location and time (of the year and the day) to achieve the highest quality of life and maximize comfort.
Let’s do solar differently.
In rural areas like Caliente, where land is abundant, it makes no sense to be constrained by your roof’s available space and orientation.
We propose ground-mount solar panels for most clients not only because they’re more cost-effective to implement and maintain. They also allow you to easily adjust the panels’ azimuth and elevation (more on that soon) to optimize yield based on your usage pattern and requirements.
Additionally, we address each client’s unique situation. For example, a client who wants to start irrigation as early as possible may need to optimize solar production for the morning hours. Meanwhile, one who wants to maximize yield for running the A/C may prefer to capture more afternoon sun (e.g., around 5 pm) when the house heats up.
Unlike cookie-cutter solar installers, we analyze each client’s consumption pattern, requirements, and property to determine the optimal solar panel placement. That brings us to our friends, azimuth and elevation.
An azimuth is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north, in a local or observer-centric spherical coordinate system. In a solar solution, changing the panels’ azimuth will affect the time-of-the-day yield.
Solar elevation, also called solar altitude or height, is the angle between the horizon and the center of the sun's disc. You may adjust the elevation to affect the time-of-the-year yield.
[ Left ] How azimuth affects solar production: The red curve illustrates power production when panels point east, and the green curve illustrates power production when panels point west.
[ Right ] In this example, the solar panel is tilted to maximize summer yield. The purple curve approximates the output during winter. Although the elevation may not produce the highest yield over the year, it may still be desirable if the consumer uses more power during the summer (e.g., running A/C all day).
So, how do you know your panels are pointing in the right direction and at the optimum angle?
The solar charge controllers (SCCs) we use come with a companion smartphone app, allowing our customers to get real-time insights on solar yield. The data insights empower them to tweak the panels’ azimuth and elevation to adapt solar production to their usage pattern.
When you have the right information, you can make the right decisions.
Stop setting up your solar solution based on what’s best for solar installers and utility companies. Do it right to meet your needs. Let’s talk.
