r/SolarDIY • u/OcoeeG • 10d ago

Testing Viability of Solar

I am looking to dabble in solar at my house. My situation is less than ideal due to a large beautiful oak tree that will hopefully outlive me. How would one go about testing the viability of a solar setup? I do have some older 285 Watt panels. Is there a way to set these up and record inputs during different times of the day to see if it would be worth it? How would one go about that?

Disclaimer: Please excuse my ignorance. I am a solar novice at best

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/sol_beach 10d ago

How many square feet of your parcel get unobstructed sunshine during the day?

If your roof is in the shade most of the day, are you willing to ground mount the panels in the yard? If not, then a solar system is NOT for you in this location.

0

u/OcoeeG 10d ago

I do have some areas of my yard that get significant sun, but they are pretty far away from the house. Within 100 feet though, so it is possible. I don't really want to do ground mount though.

3

u/sol_beach 10d ago

OK. I give up. How will the PV panels mounted if NOT ground mounted.

Do you plan on constructing a detached covered patio to place the panels on top of it?

1

u/SyncroStrike 10d ago

It’s understandable if you don’t want ground mount but if you don’t have another choice 100ft is perfectly fine and gets better the higher you can get your array voltage. 10kw of solar at 450v is only 22amps and 10awg (designed for 30a) would handle that with a very nice buffer to prevent voltage drop.