William Fitch - Than k you, I agree with your comments ... "I would stay away from all financial aspects, especially for res, and focus on site maximum production (Engineering). Other wise things like 'West is best' can seem off the rails... The RE goal is to produce as much energy as possible which will yield the maximum displacement of FF." ...
I work with small 'off-grid' res PV systems and help folks with a 'D-I-Y' ambition ! Of course we do want maximum output, to keep the 'storage' up, and ready for the times we need to use the system ! A motivating factor for all 'clean renewable energy' projects should be to 'accelerate the move away from FF' ... and we all know that the FF industry and Wall Street are fighting this, from 'ground zero' !
I also agree with your sentiment that we should be "designing for max efficiency and max power but meeting the engineering requirements for the particular system design and function" ! Please keep up this focus ... and the effort to 'End the Fossil Fuel Addiction' that we all suffer from ... thanks again !
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John Burke
Director, MESEA, Maine
Maine Solar Energy Association; Downeast Alternative Design Solar, Inc
Jonesport ME
dadsolar@yahoo.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 03-22-2022 10:39 AM
From: william fitch
Subject: What's wrong with tracking on large solar arrays?
A quick note. Be careful when having all these "what's the best" conversations. What is most profitable may not mean maximum production, especially in commercial arrays. I would stay away from all financial aspects, especially for res and focus on site maximum production (Engineering). Other wise things like 'West is best' can seem off the rails... The RE goal is to produce as much energy as possible which will yield the maximum displacement of FF. Focusing on the money is the wrong primary reason. Design for max efficiency and max power but meeting the engineering requirements for the particular system design and function. A justifiable reason for choosing a flatter production profile might be when an array is being designed to charge batteries. A longer flat curve might be better than a peak'ie curve despite yielding more energy. There are other engineering situations which also could arise, etc.. Tracking over the course of a day yields a much flatter profile and yields the most energy per KW installed. The challenge with tracking is wind loadings. Over design for that along with the movement engineering and maint. will be minimized.
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william fitch
Owner
www.WeAreSolar.com
fcfcfc@ptd.net
Original Message:
Sent: 03-16-2022 08:58 AM
From: Ernie Rogers
Subject: What's wrong with tracking on large solar arrays?
I am no expert, just trying to understand. When I see pictures of large solar arrays, the panels are stacked together in a way that would make efficient solar tracking impossible. Tracking should allow efficient collection over a wider period of the day, thereby reducing the need for expensive storage. Are power companies stupid? What am I missing?
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Ernie Rogers
Partner
ernie.e.rogers@gmail.com
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