Peter needed to get up on our roof to undertake a shading reading before moving forward and getting us to commit to the project.
He indicated that the Sunpower panels are “awesome” - the highest concentration available - but they do not work with microinverters so shading can be a major issue. Shade on one panel will affect all the others as well.
The results of the shading analysis were better than expected. We have room for three rows of panels (portrait): 3 across the top row, 3 across the second row, and 2 on the bottom row.
The whole array will be placed as far from the gable as possible since that is the major shading factor, especially close to the eaves. The shading loss will then be less than 10% when a number upwards of 20% was expected.
Based on this analysis, the expected revenue will be $1,630, or 8.4% of the initial investment (which was estimated at 8.64% before the shading information was available).
As a double check, we asked why we couldn't have 9 Sunpower panels (instead of 8) when 9 Coenergy panels would have fit. It is because of this issue of shading from the gable. We would have lost about an hour and a half of sun in the morning if a 9th panel was added in the lower corner. Sunpower panels work in series so if one panel is shaded then all do not work.... 8 panels it is!
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