[Greenbuilding] 10 kW solar power plant production

[RT]

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:43:34 -0400, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
> On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 8:32 AM, RT <Archilogic at yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
>>
>> His panels are attached to a 12 metre (40 ft) long horizontal pipe  
>> oriented with it's long axis running North-South, suspended about 3  
>> metres
>> (10 ft) off of the ground.
>>
>> The pipe rotates to follow the arc of the sun over the course of the  
>> day.
>>
>
> I'm trying to visualize this array. Does the North end of the pipe angle  
> up by XY degrees? Or are the individual panels tilted up?
> Is the array 2x26 panels (I got that from the first graphic found at the
> Enphase link)?
> Does the XY angle above change over the course of the year?

I have a bunch of snapshots of the installation that I'll put up  
somewhere. Manana. (They're on another computer).

The horizontal pipe is set level.

Pairs of panels are attached to 3 m long spars mounted perpendicular to  
the long pipe.

The tilt of the pairs of panels is of course, variable, adjusted to suit  
the season and are moved in unison, not unlike adjusting Venetian blinds  
or the slats on louvered doors and shutters.

At first I balked at the seemingly over-gizmologified design, thinking  
that it was merely a ploy by the dealer to upsell the power plant package  
but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. An incremental  
production of 30-40% over that of an identical (but fixed) array easily  
justifies and pays for the extra cost of the automated tracking  
paraphernalia.
(I have mentioned in the past on this list that the MicroFIT program  
guarantees to pay something like $0.81 per kWH of electricity fed back  
into the grid, for 20 years.)

I should also mention that I thought that the arrangement would be like a  
huge,fragile (and very expensive) kite.

At least twice this summer, this area has been hit with severe windstorms   
. While out for bike rides the mornings after the storms I've encountered  
an entire barn roof (rafters, purlins, cladding) standing up on end,  
suspended off of the ground, hung up in some trees ...  power lines  
knocked down by snapped-off trees (one hanging down across the roadway so  
low that I had to duck in order to miss having it tearing my head off)...  
and innumerable other snapped off or ripped-out-by-the-roots,  
large-caliper mature trees (mostly Spruce and Poplars but some Maples and  
White Pines (a species that is typically very wind-firm) as well), one of  
which was laying across the road right in front of the property on which  
the power plant is situated ... but much to my surprise, the solar  
array/kite has survived unscathed  ... which is pretty amazing considering  
that the array has to be in a open area unobstructed (and hence  
unprotected) by surrounding trees.
-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  C A >
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