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Solar panel tilt angle made my system useless for 3 months last winter
I live up near Duluth, Minnesota, and I set my panels flat on the roof thinking it'd collect snow better. Turned out they barely charged the batteries from November through January. Had to run a extension cord from my neighbor's garage just to keep my fridge going. Anyone else in northern areas figure out a good winter angle for their setup?
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charles6401mo ago
Tip that angle up to about 60 degrees for winter if you can. That's roughly your latitude plus 15 degrees, and it'll catch the low sun way better than flat. I ran the same setup here in Wisconsin and got half decent charging through December after making that switch.
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claire8721mo ago
ngl that's solid advice for fixed mounts, but what about tracking? like i get that 60° works great for stationary panels in winter, but if you adjust it a couple times a day to follow the sun, you can actually get away with a lower angle and still pull in solid wattage. i started doing manual tilts twice a day just aiming roughly at where the sun is and it doubled my december output vs leaving it at one spot. bit more work but worth it if you're off grid.
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