shading - am I wasting my time/money?

[liquidity]

I'm interested in fitting a PV solar system. But I have some shading in the morning.

The roof at 09:00

The roof at 10:00

The roof is unshaded from 11:00 onwards. Pitch is 40 degrees, azimuth is -10 (170 degrees on the compass). The shade is from a neighbour's horse chestnut tree with a TPO so short of infecting it with bleeding canker it's going nowhere but up and out. (Lovely tree, shame about the location).

Given the shading am I wasting my time/money? Looking at The Power Station suggests that roughly 1/3 of solar radiation occurs before 11:00

I've read about microinverters and they would appear to minimise the impact of shading but at an increased cost and at the risk of using some relatively new technology, or at least in a new package.

I've read about SMA's Optitrac and read the marketing bumpf at Made for shade.*SMA Solar Technology AG and the slick presentation at OptiTrac Global Peak.*SMA Solar Technology AG But I struggle to understand how the technology can apparently create something from nothing, or at least almost the same energy despite partial shading. Any insights would be appreciated.

 

[SolarCity]

Difficult to say if you are wasting your money or not. I'd say your roof may still be a viable location. You'd be better off getting an installer to measure the tree and calculate how much this tree would affect the array over 12 months.

 

[telectrix]

sodium chlorate weedkiller.

 

[liquidity]

sodium chlorate weedkiller.

LOL - you clearly go for subtle approaches!

 

[SolarCity]

Where are you based?

 

[liquidity]

South east Hampshire

 

[SolarCity]

Then I'd say it is probably worth getting it installed. You're in a good zone and you have a good orientation. The effect of the shading will be quite dramatic but possibly not so much that it would make a system uneconomic.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Might be worth looking at having the tree trimmed. Ask nicely and offer to pay. Unless the tree is fully grown, remember it will make the shading worse with time.

 

[liquidity]

Might be worth looking at having the tree trimmed. Ask nicely and offer to pay. Unless the tree is fully grown, remember it will make the shading worse with time.

Unfortunately it's covered by a TPO (tree preservation order)....

 

[greenman]

if you get the solemetric app for the iphonee it will give you a full shade analysis using the camera and from the report you get a full shade derating which will give you a better indication.its about £17 but worth the money. i have heard the micro inverters can heat up and damage the panels but dont know how true it is as the person who told me was selling another product.if you are thinking of a 4kw system you could use an sma sb400tl which has 2 Mpp trackers which means 2 strings which work independently .if you place 1 string on the left and 1 on the right of the roof the left string would come out of shade earlier and give you more output on that side .

 

[langstroth2]

Unfortunately it's covered by a TPO (tree preservation order)....

That doesn't stop it being trimmed - it just means you'll need to a) get a quote from a decent 'tree surgeon' (keeps the council happier) and b) make a planning application** to you local council explaining what work you wish to have done - and wait for their approval. (and c) ask your neighbour nicely). We have two trees with TPO's and have had them thinned and trimmed twice so that the garden isn't too shaded, and our neighbour also asked us (and paid) if he could do one of them that was encroaching over his garden.