Evaluating the effect of orientation angles on the output power of a stationary photovoltaic panel

Abstract

Economic and environmental concerns over fossil fuels encourage the development of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of orientation angles on the output power of a PV panel, thereby harnessing more of the available solar energy. The practical setup consists of a number of identical PV systems where the PV panels were set to an orientation angle of 0° N, +15° W, and −15° E, with a constant tilt angle of 36°. Tilt and orientation angles play a major role in dictating the output power of a PV panel and subsequently on the power fed into the respective load within the PV system. Preliminary results, which include percentages showing when the system was fully charged and the work-time per day, indicate that a 0° N orientation angle produces the highest amount of output power for a latitude of 26° S.