How the solar calculator works.
1. 1. Choose a type of information Photovoltaic Production Solar Thermal Energy 2. 2. Choose a configuration: Four options are sun-tracking and the fifth is a fixed collector of selectable orientation. For windows select a fixed surface and make sure to adjust tils to vertical or any appropriate slope. Sun Tracking Configurations 2-axis tracking: collector always faces sun collector rotates around one north-south axis tilted to latitude collector rotates around one horizontal east-west axis Fixed Configuration Indicate tilt and azimuth below: Collector Tilt A tilt of 0 corresponds to a horizontal array, while a tilt of 90 corresponds to a vertical array. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Collector Azimuth An azimuth of 0 corresponds to a south-facing array; 90 to an east-facing array; 180 to a north-facing array; and 270 to a west-facing array. Therefore, the azimuth of an array facing 20 east of south will be 20, while the azimuth of a PV array facing 20 west of south will be 340. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 3. 3. Choose a location in the state:
A tilt of 0 corresponds to a horizontal array, while a tilt of 90 corresponds to a vertical array.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
An azimuth of 0 corresponds to a south-facing array; 90 to an east-facing array; 180 to a north-facing array; and 270 to a west-facing array. Therefore, the azimuth of an array facing 20 east of south will be 20, while the azimuth of a PV array facing 20 west of south will be 340.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340