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  • Panels mounted to a Fence

    Hi Everyone.
    This is my second system and I need some help. I have panels that are 77x39. City code will not let me go over 72. So to get by this I will have a two foot stem wall and the fence on top of that. I now have 96 height to work with. Next I will move the fence in two foot. So I have a two foot gap on the bottom of the panels if I go horizontal. Not very much angle.
    My second option is two have two rows vertical. Do I have the room to have two rows with the shadow gap? Still only have the 2 foot from fence to outer panel end and 96 inch height.
    I think that I do and that the angel will be much better for production. If it will work can some one tell me the angle and the inter panel gap?
    Thanks Neal

  • #2
    Forgot Location
    Lat 38.896580
    Lon -99.325700

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    • #3
      Originally posted by wardneal View Post
      Hi Everyone.
      ........City code will not let me go over 72. So to get by this I will have a two foot stem wall and the fence on top of that. ..........
      I assume you mean 72 inches for the height of a fence. Some jurisdictions allow solar panels on a roof to exceed the height limit of buildings. Check your jurisdiction in case yours allow more.
      9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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      • #4
        Thanks Ampster
        They will not let me go over 6 foot fence height. The panels can not go over 6 foot unless I move 5 feet from property edge. That is not an option as the yard is already narrow. The reason that the retaining wall is added is to get around the 6 foot height. It looks like i will not have the room for two rows unless i make the retaining wall over 3 foot. If the program I found is right in the winter i will need 108 inches.

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        • #5
          Can Anyone confirm my findings? That in my location I will need 108 inches in winter to have two rows.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by wardneal View Post
            Can Anyone confirm my findings? That in my location I will need 108 inches in winter to have two rows.
            I might, but from what you've written so far, I have no idea what you are describing or why you are describing it as you are, or what you what to do. Guess I'm just getting more dense as I age.

            But for starters, if I was you, one thought comes to my age addled brain: I'd look at panels that are closer to 1.6 m (~ 63 ") long. That's about all I can offer without a description I can make sense of.

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            • #7
              Ok in simple form. 39 inch panel layed as length. Next inter panel gap around 40 inches. Then next panel 39 inches. Minus the 10 inches per panel for angle. 29+29+40=100 inches. This is not the acuact that is what I need to know.

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              • #8
                I looked on Google maps for the Lat/Lon you posted and assume that your site is triangular and the hypotenuse runs in a north south direction. If that is where you are thinking about putting the panels/fence then they would face east or west or in both directions. I can't tell how high the building is to the west to see if it would shade that fence in the afternoons. Are my assumptions correct and can you shed any more light on the site characteristics?
                N.B. Ignore the above I was using the wrong location.
                Last edited by Ampster; 03-03-2019, 11:27 PM.
                9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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                • #9
                  The fence and panels will face south.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by wardneal View Post
                    The fence and panels will face south.
                    Okay. I wish I could post a screen shot of the satellite view because the building to the northeast looks like it has panels on the roof facing south by southwest. I am still not clear about how where the panels will be placed with regard to the building and the parking lot and how you plan on obtaining a due south orientation. A picture is probably worth a thousand words. At least that is what works for me because I am a visual thinker.

                    What I do when trying out various panel layouts is use a spreadsheet. I set the panel size in a couple of spreadsheet cells and then play around with various landscape and portrait combinations that make it easy to calculate the dimensions of various array scenerios.
                    9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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                    • #11
                      The house address is 214 w 38th Hays Kansas 67601

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                      • #12
                        Fence runs east, west panels will face south.The fence is a 120 foot long.
                        I used the renvu inter row spacing tool.
                        Panel length 39.1.
                        Angle 36.
                        Sun angle degrees 27.
                        With this set up I would be panel length 31.6
                        Distance between panels 45.1
                        distance from fence at the bottom of the panels 23
                        If this is correct I would need a total of 112.8 inches to have no shade in the winter from my upper row of panels.
                        Can anyone tell me if this row spacing tool is correct for my location?

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                        • #13
                          Okay now I understand a little more about the site. You have 120 feet facing south so a single row would get you 20 or more panels. How many panels are you trying to get on that fence? Also what is to the south of that fence?. Is it a bike path or trail, or storm channel? Any obstructions. I am trying to understand how low you can go to the ground. I am assuming from the ground there is a 2 foot retaining wall and a 6 ft fence above that. Is that correct?
                          9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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                          • #14
                            There is an alley back their be hind the fence.
                            I am going to put 36 panels in two rows. I have the fence 6 foot and 2 foot for the retaining wall.

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                            • #15
                              I had problems using that calculator so I'm sorry that I am not much help in answering your original question. I hope my questions helped clarify the installation so that some one with access to another calculator might be able to answer your query.

                              I know that there is a tendency on forums to ignore a poster's original assumptions but I have one outside the box idea. Have you looked at one row of about 30 panels landscape with another 6 or 10 panels below those on optimizers. It would take more than the above model to see if that might be an optimal site configuration. In the winter you could have no shading. In the summer when there is lots of shading on the bottom row the increased productivity of the upper panels might compensate. You could use PV Watts to model some scenerios.
                              9 kW solar, 42kWh LFP storage. EV owner since 2012

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