Want to charge Nissan LEAF with solar panels

[Azrich]

I'm in sunny Tucson, have a flat roof, no shade problems, but I do have 7 skylights to work around. In a couple weeks we're going to have a couple companies come give us their plans for a system that will generate about 900 kWh a month.

What questions should we ask?

What types of panels or installations do we want to avoid?

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

Richard

[Jason]

Welcome to Solar Panel Talk Richard, I appreciate you joining.

I'm going to move your thread to the Solar Panel Beginners Forum.

[Mike90250]

What type of roof do you have, comp shingle (easiest to work with) spanish tile, flat tar & gravel? Will the installer warranty against leaks, or will he work with a roofer?

Are the skylights flush, or the large dome style? The panels will need to be located in an area unshaded by anything, even a shadow the size of a wood pencil can seriously effect the output.

[Azrich]

The roof is flat with 2 inches of foam and then painted with white roof coating. There is an area of 12 feet by 27 feet with no skylights, however along one side (27 ft) there is a 2 ft tall parapet wall along the west side. There is no other shade. At the other end of the house there is a 10 ft by 30 ft flat section - again with no shade but parapet walls on both ends of the 10 ft sides.

The skylights are the dome style and are 2 x 4 ft.

Thanks for questions to ask about leaks. The group we have coming to give us an estimate is The Technicians for Sustainablity - http://tfssolar.com/

My veterinarian just renovated an old warehouse and used them. He highly recommended them. I've had two other recommendations too. We would like to generate 800 to 1000 kWh a month depending on cost and roof space.

[Sunking]

Sounds like you got a handle on things, I assume this will be a grid-tried system right? It would be a terrible waste to only use it to just to charge up batteries in an EV.

[Azrich]

Yes, we'll connect with the grid. The LEAF will need about 16 to 20 kW for a daily charge, so we should be able to generate more. Air conditioning in the summer is a killer here in Tucson, but I'm hopeful we will be able to bank some kWh during the 7 months we don't use it.

Question about shade hitting the panels-

Does one shadow cast upon one panel stop or cut down the generation of electricity?

[Sunking]

Question about shade hitting the panels-

Does one shadow cast upon one panel stop or cut down the generation of electricity?

Short answer is yes.

[Mike90250]

A small amount of shade (from a twig or a wire) can shutdown an entire string. Locate your panels so the parapet walls will not shade them till after 5pm in the summer. Also avoid shade from the skylight domes, that will ruin your output too. An expensive alternative is to use micro-inverters on each panel, but that's just a way to throw $ into monthly monitor fees, where a good design would avoid shade. Maybe panels mounted one edge on the inboard side of the wall, and other edge on a bracket sticking up from the roof.