AGS-Energy
Building a new World with environmentally clean and renewable energy technologies
Mechanical Considerations Tilt angle is very important for mounting solar panels. The proper tilt angle will assure that depending on season and geographical location, you maximize your power generation. Sometimes solar trackers are being used that turn the panels automatically towards the sun. However, since these are expensive and prone to mechanical malfunctions, they are used in critical applications where optimum power is necessity and area is limited. Solar concentrators such as concave mirrors are also used to gather incoming light from a large area and concentrate it on a smaller photovoltaic device that is at the mirror's focal point. This way, sunshine that would have been otherwise lost is collected and directed onto the solar cells. Other more complex solar concentrators involving optical prisms are also used. Also of consideration is the safe mounting of renewable energy devices. One has to consider strong winds, rain, snow, hail....etc. that can potentially damage your systems. Therefore professionally designed mounting structures need to be used when installing such devices. With appropriate well prepared instructions, it is easy to install such systems yourself. There are Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits available for sale. Once you purchase such kits, all you need is to follow the instructions. If you are really handicapped in fixing and installing things, you may ask your friends, relatives or neighbors to give you a hand. However, qualified experts should be appointed whenever the installed structure is of significant dimensions and weight. Sometimes a crane may be necessary for erecting a large wind turbine for example. |
