Consider the following scenario; a research team would like to design (position) a single stand-alone solar PV panel to power up a local weather station (with a built-in battery backup). Assuming the solar PV panel will be a fixed device (i.e., no motorized sun tracking functionality), find the best azimuth (HRA – Horizontal Angle) and best vertical/tilt (VRA – Vertical Angle) using the related components of Ladybug environmental plug-in. Provide the maximum (cumulative) annual GLOBAL solar radiation intensity at this optimal position (kWh/m2). Note: Assume that the PV panel surface is unshaded – no surrounding solar obstructions in place).
Ladybug Workflow for Solar Radiation
Part 1 - When Vector for Best Solar Radiation is exactly South-Facing (this assignment)
Solar Calla Dome East View Solar Calla Dome Top View
Use Ladybug solar radiation components, the information for the optimal solar vector for receiving radiation is:Max Solar Radiation: 1376.42 KWh/㎡, Best azimuth (HRA – Horizontal Angle): 180°, Best vertical/tilt (VRA – Vertical Angle): 60°, Solar Radiation Range (Min to Max): 263.4 KWh/㎡ to 1376.42 KWh/㎡.
Two typical Solar PV dimension* Top View for Solar PV
The object building is exactly North-South facing and this study only chooses 60 cell panels and array pv panels horizontally in the West-East direction. And solar PV is perpendicular to the optimal solar vector to ensure the maximum solar radiation.
Solar PV Workflow 1
Solar PV alternatives
The Grasshopper component changes the distance between solar PV. When the distance increases, the total solar PV area decreases and total solar radiation drops. If the distance between solar PV decreases, more PV panels might be available but it also brings over shading effects. Therefore, in the real world, it needs to balance roof structural capacity(number of solar panels), solar efficiency for individual panels, and financial cost (number of solar panels).
Part 2 - When Vector for the Best Solar Radiation is random
Solar PV Workflow 2
Solar PV Generation Progress
Assuming the solar vector is random, another situation would be how to generate solar panels perpendicular to the vectors. The additional study added the buildable envelope(3m) as boundary setting. In this case, all panels are accommodated at the top of the roof area. However, rotating individual panels might result in more cost as the panels are not placed at the ground. This workflow only shows a conceptual design of how the optimal panel could be.