[math-fun] best tilt angle for solar panel
Suppose you are on an airless spherical earth. You've got a flat solar panel and can put it facing at angle Q to the ground (and toward the equator of course). Assume Q is fixed, you cannot have a swiveling panel which changes orientation during the day. What is the best value of Q, maximizing the amount of solar energy hitting the panel, as a function of your latitude L and the Earth's axial tile angle A=23.4 degrees? You might naively imagine Q=L is best. -- Warren D. Smith http://RangeVoting.org <-- add your endorsement (by clicking "endorse" as 1st step)
On 3/10/2013 6:58 PM, Warren D Smith wrote:
Suppose you are on an airless spherical earth. You've got a flat solar panel and can put it facing at angle Q to the ground (and toward the equator of course). Assume Q is fixed, you cannot have a swiveling panel which changes orientation during the day.
What is the best value of Q, maximizing the amount of solar energy hitting the panel, as a function of your latitude L and the Earth's axial tile angle A=23.4 degrees?
You might naively imagine Q=L is best.
I assume what you have in mind is that days are longer in the summer when the Sun is higher in the sky, so the optimum for an annual average is for the panels to be closer to horizontal than the latitude. Brent Meeker
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Warren D Smith