Installation Design of Solar Panels with Seasonal Adjustment of Tilt-Angles

In this work, a mathematical procedure was developed for estimating the annual collectible radiation on solar panels with different mode of tilt-angle adjustment based on the monthly horizontal radiation. Calculation results show that, for solar panels with seasonal adjustment of tilt-angles, the optimum date of tilt-angle adjustment is 22 days from the equinoxes, and the optimum value of tilt-angle adjustment from the site latitude is in between 23-25° for maximizing the annual energy collection. Compared to fixed solar panels inclined at an optimal tilt-angle, the annual collectible radiation on solar panels with such tilt-angle adjustment mode, depending on solar resource in site, is increased about 3-5%. A comparison shows that solar panels with seasonal adjustment of tilt-angle receive annually slight less radiation than those with monthly adjustment of tilt-angles, indicating that monthly adjustment of tilt-angle of solar panels is meaningless in practical applications.