The dual angle solar harvest (DASH) method: An alternative method for organizing large solar panel arrays that optimizes incident solar energy in conjunction with land use

Abstract

Plummeting costs of solar panels along with rising costs of land makes it imperative to consider both the per-panel and unit-area incident solar energy. An alternative approach of organizing large solar panel arrays that considers this co-optimization problem is suggested and a new dual-angle technique is introduced, called the dual-angle solar harvest (DASH) method, in which a solar array is composed of two tilt angles. This paper evaluates the DASH method at two climatically and geographically different locations: Akron, OH and Barstow, CA. Use of the DASH method can enable potential better handling of complex radiation fields in partly cloudy climates, allow for preferential weighting of irradiation during different seasons, and may be a tool to increase array-wide incident irradiation at a pre-existing array in a cost-effective manner. This latter example is tested nationwide, in which one angle is constrained at the single optimum tilt angle. Results show the lowest percentage of panel-rows that require an adjustment to a different tilt angle to achieve the desired gain in array-wide incident energy. The more cost-effective solutions tend to be located in cloudier climates and at higher latitudes.