Week 3 - Research Solar, Mount Design

This week I worked on learning the solar analysis software and what inputs must be determined to size a system. Previous bills with kWh or yield can be used as well as kW used per year. There are multiple ways of doing the analysis. Another way to choose how many solar panels are needed is the area desired for use. I also worked on building a solar panel structure that sits on top of the rails as shown here: Click here There is a bracket that holds it together with the top of the track structure. I chose the shape as shown here:, with the brackets on the side that tighten and loosen, which allow for movement of the panel if required. More work is still needed to finish this system.

Figure1. Track clamp design iteration.