[RE-wrenches] Shading animations

[William Miller]

Joel:

My understanding is that you wish to calculate inter-row spacing for 
non-south facing arrays.  I modeled an example of this scenario in 3D over 
a time period and created a video file.  I converted the aforementioned 97 
MB file to a WMV and trimmed the file size just a little (to ~436 KB).  The 
file can be found 
at:  http://millersolar.com/case_studies/case_studies.html  Click on 
Shading Study.

I modeled two identical, two row installations.  One is facing due south, 
one is 45 degrees east of south.  The modeling date is winter solstice and 
the time period is from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  The location is right here in 
sunny San Luis Obispo County.

If you get a chance to view the animation, you will note that the inter-row 
shading is not significantly different between the south facing rows and 
the non-south facing rows.  One might even decide that the solution for a 
south facing installation is an adequate solution for any installation 
where all other parameters are equal.  I will verify this mathematically 
(in my free time).

Thanks for the question.  I love thinking about these problems.  (Tell the 
kids that the math is actually useful.)

William Miller

PS:  The animation was created in Microstation, saved as an AVI and 
converted to a WMV file in Pinnacle Studio.  I apologize that the 
resolution is not great -- I am still learning the software, even after all 
these years.

Wm





At 06:28 PM 5/11/2009, you wrote:
>Ken,
>
>Thank you. This website and software gives the sun altitude and azimuth. I 
>seem to recall 3D graphic dynamic software where you input the site 
>longitude and latitude, solar panel tilt angle and the north side height 
>and the result would be a shade pattern shown for each hour. Does anyone 
>have such a program?
>
>Best regards,
>Joel Davidson
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:khulet at revolutionearth.com>Engineering Services Co.
>>To: <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>RE-wrenches
>>Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 11:14 AM
>>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Spacing between solar arrays
>>
>>Try this Joel.
>>
>><http://www.susdesign.com/>http://www.susdesign.com/
>>
>>
>>Ken Hulet
>>Engineering Services Co.
>>204 S. Main St.
>>Blanchardville, WI 53516
>>608.523.3726
>>
>><http://www.revolutionearth.com>http://www.revolutionearth.com
>>visit us at River Valley Trading Co.
>><http://www.rivervalleytrading.com>http://www.rivervalleytrading.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On May 11, 2009, at 11:39 AM, Joel Davidson wrote:
>>
>>>Wrenches,
>>>
>>>Someone posted a website or calculation for determining the spacing 
>>>between solar arrays, but I can not find it. It is easy to get the 
>>>spacing from a drawing when the array faces true south, but when the 
>>>array faces southeast or southwest is what we need to know. Please help. 
>>>Thank you very much.
>>>
>>>Joel Davidson
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