[RE-wrenches] Flat Panels

[August Goers]

Wrenches -

Lately we've been called out to repair or upgrade several ~5 year old PV
installations in the Bay Area. It is always interesting to see how they're
holding up. Apparently it was common to mount panels completely flat
(horizontal) on flat roofs back then. This poses a serious problem because
the module frame lip catches water and dirt and prevents the panel from
washing off in the rain. See a photo here:

http://luminalt.com/temp/flatpanel.JPG


Note that two of those panels were broken by a baseball, but you can still
see the dirt buildup on the adjacent panels right across all three rows of
bypass diodes.

Any ideas on what percentage loss that dried dirt is causing?

Lesson learned: never tilt panels below 5 degrees, preferably 10 degrees.

Cheers,


August Goers

Luminalt Energy Corporation