camelot-forum.co.uk

Just wondering what people's thoughts were on mounting modules vertically.
We have a very long fence around our garden 60 -70 meters.
south facing I have enough space for 16 panels.
there will be some shading.
I have 3kW of AC export left before I hit the 4kW max as I already have 1kW AC installed.
I know that the losses will be higher than anticipated shading etc
But the output curve is relatively flat when looking at pvgis.
So I think if I can squeeze 4kW DC into a 3 kW inverter.
The fence is about 1800 mm tall. And sturdy no neighbors that side either.
Might look at the second hand route for the modules if I can as these older panels will be shorter. Just need to make sure I find ones where the backing isn't breaking up.
Interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks

A few points:

- There is no max panel output. You can have as much capacity as you like. Inverter capacity is limited to 16A per phase (about 3.6kW) without first asking permission. However plenty of people have 5kW inverters on ordinary single-phase domestic supply, you just have to ask permission first. Additionally you can fit additional panels above inverter capacity (I have over 5kW and a 3.6kW inverter). Imagine it is cloudy, a 4kWp array might produce 1kW, whereas an 8kWp array would produce 2kW.

- Batteries help use the power you generate, this becomes more important as your array gets bigger, and particularly if you have more panel than inverter capacity.

- Vertical panels are not optimum but they will generate, particularly in winter when the sun’s angle is low.

- Optomisers or micro-inverters are effective solutions for dealing with shading.

- There are plenty of shorter panels still available. Perlight make a 1500mm panel that is reasonably priced per Wp.

Make it into a long ladder store as a building gets round the planning rules.



And if you fit a nice second hand SMA inverter you can use the shade management function. This one on ebay is a 3kW one and a v21 too which don't come up very often assuming it is the actual item. Can add an ethernet card into them for easy monitoring and there might already be one in there.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394057541616 ... Sw8PticYg2