 Optimum fixed orientations and benefits of tracking for capturing solar radiation in the continental United StatesMatthew Lave and Jan Kleissl Renewable Energy, 2011, vol. 36, issue 3, 1145-1152 Abstract: Optimum tilt and azimuth angles for solar panels were calculated for a grid of 0.1° by 0.1° National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB-SUNY) cells covering the continental United States. Optimum tilt and azimuth angles varied by up to 10° from the rule of thumb of latitude tilt and due south azimuth, especially in coastal areas, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. The yearly global irradiation incident on a panel at this optimum orientation was compared to the solar radiation received by a flat horizontal panel and a 2-axis tracking panel. Compared to global horizontal irradiation, irradiation at optimum fixed tilt increased with increasing latitude and by 10%–25% per year. Irradiation incident on a 2-axis tracking panel in one year was 25%–45% higher than irradiation received by a panel at optimum fixed orientation. The highest increases in tracking irradiation were seen in the southwestern states, where irradiation was already large, leading to annual irradiation of over 3.4MWhm−2. Keywords: Photovoltaic; Optimum tilt; Optimum azimuth; PV system optimization; Tracking (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:3:p:1145-1152 DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2010.07.032 Access Statistics for this article Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier |
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