[RE-wrenches] Array tilt angle doesn't matter?

[Tom Elliot]

Nick and William,

You’re right and more specific than I was.  I generalized to 47 degrees but the difference is really minor.  Actual location of the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is approximately 23.44 degrees and that location varies by about a half second a year but it is minor in terms of this discussion.  This has been helpful because I’ve always simply referred to it as 23.5 degrees N and S so knowing the specific location and the minor variation is interesting information.  But anyone’s specific latitude location on the planet is really irrelevant to the difference between Solstices in terms of degrees of tilt.  It is the same everywhere.

Tom



From: William Miller 
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 7:43 PM
To: RE-wrenches 
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Array tilt angle doesn't matter?

David:

Here is a handy site:  http://www.susdesign.com/sunangle/

Put in the information from your neighborhood for winter and summer solstice and get back to us on the difference.

In my neighborhood, the sun altitude angle at noon on winter solstice is about 31.6 degrees.  On summer solstice at noon (not corrected for DST) the sun altitude angle is 78.4 degrees.  The difference is 46.8 degrees.

I realize that solar noon is slightly different from clock noon, but the answers you get at clock noon should be very close to correct for solar noon.

William Miller



At 05:51 PM 2/22/2011, you wrote:

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  Tom,
   
  This is coming from old memory, so I give this with a grain of salt, but I believe the noontime sun angle at my latitude (44.5) is about 78 degrees on June 21st and about 22 degrees on December 21st. That’s a difference of 56 degrees.
   
  David Palumbo
  Independent Power LLC 
  462 Solar Way Drive
  Hyde Park, VT 05655
  www.independentpowerllc.com 
  NABCEP Certified PV Installer
  Vermont Solar Partner
  23 Years Experience, (802) 888-7194 
   
   
   
  From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Tom Elliot
  Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 7:46 PM
  To: RE-wrenches
  Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Array tilt angle doesn't matter?
   
   
  “The further north you go the wider the summer to winter sun angle.”
   
  Bob-O.  Explain this one to me please.  The difference between winter solstice and summer solstice sun angle is 47 degrees, everywhere on the planet, even in Hawaii.  I suspect that in higher latitudes a lower sun angle means more atmosphere to affect insolation but the planet, last time I checked, is tilted the same everywhere.
   
  Tom
   
   
   
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