A roof of 30 to 35 degrees is ideal for solar panels. I can't tell exactly from your photo, but it doesn't look that far off.
This could be. Maybe the panels in Canada differ somewhat from the panels over here because of the difference in latitude? (to reach maximum gain?)
Well, for ideal solar gain, our panels would want to be 45 degrees, matching our latitude (45N). Except we get less light in the winter, as well as some snow cover, and more light in the summer, so a different angle might be better. Tough call though.
I've always wondered if a (slight) layer of snow on the panels and a landscape covered in it may actually benefit the energy harvest or not. Nowadays, in winter time, I've actually seen great energy harvesting values on clear days. Better than in summer even, this has to do with the panels running cooler during wintertime. Overall the total energy harvest is less of course, but this only has to do with the fact that there are fewer hours of daylight in winter during the day and obviously also a lot less sunny days in total.
It's because of this I started to wonder, at times when the landscape is completely covered in snow, and the sun is out, even if it's only a faint one, everything seems a lot brighter because of the reflection of the sun on the white surfaces everywhere. I'm very curious to see if the panels would benefit from that (provided they are not coverend underneath centimeters of snow obviously), but so far it hasn't snowed here since I've put them on top of my roof.
But it is a single, large inverter (to be located inside our garage), and quite high on the efficiency scale. More about it when I find the documentation later.
This is the classical approach which almost 99% of the installations use. This is not bad of course, but it is limiting in the fact that only a few strings can be used (usually 2 or 3 MPPT points). This means you get two or three
series of panels on your roof. If one of those panels in one of these series starts malfunctioning or gets soiled (leaves, bird poo, ...) the energy harvest of that ENTIRE string easily halves. And you wouldn't notice until a few months later when you realize you didn't harvest as much as expected. (unless you keep a daily eye onto your energy meter
)
The best deal with Solar electric power in Ontario, Canada, is something known as the "Microfit Program", whereby one can install up to 10KW of generation capability. The local utility signs a contract guaranteeing to purchse that power from us at a fixed/inflated price (per KW/hour) for the next 20 years, with the income fully tax deductible up to the cost of the system. There are several requirements to qualify, including the type of inverter and method of interconnection to the grid.
We HAD a common system here also, but it became too expensive for the companies to keep it up, so the system got canned and all the benefit I have left is the fact that my own energy consumption is covered for the next 20 to 25 years. Also not a bad deal IMO.
Great overview of the options, by the way!
You're very welcome!
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