SolarDIY

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SolarDIY is a vibrant community dedicated to embracing the power of solar energy. Here, we encourage you to showcase your ingenious ideas, innovative projects, and inspiring stories, while also seeking valuable advice, fresh ideas, and fostering meaningful connections.

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pdavis

Testing actual solar gain in a location (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/solardiy

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Im considering installing a small - Maybe 1Kw set of panels into a location but I would like to get an idea of what their actual performance would be like before I do the installation. Its a strange location with some over hanging trees and some shading by neighbours fromntine to time but it could help provide some redundancy. Understanding of it could produce enough or whether a mains powered UPS is required would help before I pick and buy a solution.

Im wondering what is a cheap way to test out what Im actually going to be able to capture?

I was thinking of putting a small panel in place for a year and seeing how it performs. But I realised I might need a controller amd logger as well as and something to dunp the energy captured.

What would be the simplest / cheapest way to do this?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would like to get an idea of what their actual performance would be like before I do the installation

PVwatts and similar models are quite useful for estimating harvest in a given time/place.

Its a strange location with some over hanging trees and some shading by neighbours fromntine to time but it could help provide some redundancy

Partial shading is brutal on solar harvest. It will be the tail that wags the dog in this scenario.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah thats why I would like to try somehow...before I buy lol.