Solar panels are increasingly being oriented east or west instead of south, as while it reduces overall yield, it maximises power when it's needed the most - during morning and evening peaks.

I don't have numbers, but I suspect it alleviates issues with dust buildup and temperature.

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cestith an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Tracking systems are also becoming more popular. You spend a little more up front but get a lot more usable power.

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rcxdude an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I get the impression they are getting less viable because the extra cost and maintenance outweighs just putting more panels down. There are some calculations that suggest even mounting them on angled frames might not be worth the cost, depending on how dirty they get when you just lie them flat on the ground.

(This assumes that you have enough space, but for grid-scale solar this is not the limiting factor. The costs are roughly in order from most to least: the cost of the inverters and grid connection, the cost of installing the panels, the cost of the panels themselves, then the cost of the land to put them on)

	▲	bruce511 39 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I can speak to this somewhat. My panels are on adjustable frames. Typically I switch from flat (summer) to tilted (winter). As always ymmv and depends somewhat on your location. I'm around 30 degrees from the equator. During summer, lying flat gets a lot more power. And more importantly the start and end of the generating period is longer. Ie the panels get more sun in the morning and evening thankfully they were tilted. In winter the sun is more "from one direction" and obviously is lower on the horizon.

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bradfa an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The most interesting trackers to me, for DIY install in my yard, is a 2-axis tracker. Especially in summer, sunrise and sunset are quite a bit north of east and west, meaning a true south facing fixed set of panels wouldn't even see the sun yet.

Sadly, my investigations a few years back indicated that a suitably strong and robust 2-axis tracker that would withstand our local winds and snow loads is significantly more expensive than just buying more panels and facing some of them east/south/west to accomplish the same thing. Doing this on an existing shed also avoids some local zoning rules vs a dedicated ground mounted system.

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kaelwd an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Panels are so cheap now you're better off just installing twice as many without tracking.

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sluongng an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

isn't that more of a storage issue, which a home battery would solve?

	▲	collabs an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The upcoming "balcony solar" legislations will allow up to a limit (iirc 1200W in Virginia) of solar to be directly be connected to the electricity outlets of a house to make our electricity costs lower without having to pay for a battery from what I understand.
	▲	wongarsu an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		A battery would solve it, but it can be cheaper to have additional panels oriented east and west than to add the equivalent battery capacity