Technical Articles

GSES communicates factual, up-to-date and evidence-based information for publication. This includes information on the issues surrounding DC circuit breakers, earthing fundamentals, how to sell solar, and information on isolator enclosures.

East West Arrays: Are they worth it?

The current cost of rooftop PV means that it can be cheaper to source your electricity from a rooftop solar system than buy it from the grid. A significant problem with this, however, is that people consume 50%+ of their electricity during the morning and evening when solar systems are not producing, is it possible (or financially viable) to angle a PV array to the east or west to preference supply to these morning or evening loads? If this is possible, more of the solar energy should be consumed onsite and less exported to the grid. If the end-user consumes the solar energy onsite, the value to the end-user will be according to the rate at which they purchase energy, which is around ~28c/kWh. This article considers the advantages and disadvantages of east and west facing arrays and how they compare to north-facing arrays. Given that the major driver for installing PV is to reduce energy costs, this analysis has been done on the basis of the financial benefits to the end-user.

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