Orientation charts and Free standing Design.

[Ga Rick Lee]

An email received by the DKA Solar Centre -

I think it was about Oct 2010 that you assisted me with choosing of the location of panels. I have since installed the panels and I am very pleased with the outcome. Thank you once again.
With the form advice you gave me, there was a contact to the Clean Energy Council web site that had( with a lot of other useful information) a set of tables showing the “% of performance”? for cells with varying orientations and tilt angles.
Unfortunately my computer and records were stolen and I cannot find the tables again. The clean energy council web site seems to have changed and they do not respond to a request.

The reason that I now seek this information is that I am involved with a Bowls Club that has received a grant for the insulation of solar system. It is a 6kva system.
I do not think the roof of the bowls club is a good location. Its orientation is south east with a pitch of about 15 degrees. There are 4 light poles one at each corner of the club. Two flag poles and a TV antenna all of which will cast a shadow over the cells at some time during the day except for say 10 am to 2 pm. The building also has a 2 to 3m parapet wall all around which further restricts the location of panels.
There is an area where a free standing structure can be placed. It is about 70 m from the club house but close to the maintenance shed.(Where the inverter can be installed)
Do you have any guide lines or recommendations for the building of a free standing structure. We would use a north orientation and tilt the panels at the angle of our latitude. There is a two meter high hedge between the proposed location and the green so any glare should be eliminated.(and it would only be early morning). The engineer would sort out the structural specifications but things like height above the ground and number of rows and maintenance design convenience are what I would like some comment about.
Thankyou
...

[Ga Rick Lee]

Hi,

Thanks for your email. I hope it's ok that I post it in the discussion forum. There are helpful people here that may be able to assist you as well.

In answer to your questions. There is a "sticky" topic here that links to the Clean Energy Council information that you're looking for -
http://www.dkasolarcentre.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=375

In terms of free standing, array frame structures, we use quite a few at the DKA Solar Centre. They can be a bit expensive and you need to make sure they're structurally sound for the conditions (cyclones?). In terms of height above the ground and maintenance - if the array is too low it can be difficult to look under and work under the array, but if the array is too high it may be more difficult to clean and may need to be made more structurally sound. Of course there's other considerations like aesthetics, shading, grass/plants under the array growing too close to it, etc.

Best regards,

[c*p]

Hi, commendations to the Bowling Club (committee) for pursuing solar panels. You don't say where the Club is, so I can not look over the CEC Guidelines tables for you. I would agree though that SE at 15 degrees is not favourable. As a guide, in Brisbane (less unfavourable than further South), with panels facing an azimuth of 135 deg (SE) and tilted at 15 deg, you can expect 84% of output compared with the best orientation. In Melbourne, for comparison, the figure is 78%. As further input, note that my panels in Melbourne face West at 26 deg, so I put up with an output of about 83%: I have no North facing roof.
Your alternative seems to place the panels a long way from the Clubhouse, and so you will have some line-loss. Normally, one tries to have the panels close to the inverter which is in turn close to your electricity meter, which, I assume, is at the Clubhouse.
An alternative might be to place the panels on shade structures around the greens? I am thinking of the North and South ends of the greens, with simple "bus shelter" sort of shade structures where the roofs can be pitched North. If you already have shade structures around the greens, can these be used? If you don't have shade (yet), then you would also be providing a great amenity for bowlers waiting their turn in triples or fours, and spectators. Happy contemplation of the alternatives. c*p