On Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 8:24 AM Christopher Robin wrote: > > On Tue, Jun 13, 2017 at 7:52 AM Richard Smith wrote: > >> On 06/09/2017 10:02 AM, Dave Taht wrote: >> >> > My use case used to be covering hundreds of km in the Nicaraguan >> > jungle. The prototype for that covers a mere 110 acres in the los >> > gatos hills, trying to get stuff deep into ravines and so on. >> >> Accounting for wost case is always what amplifies the requirements of an >> off-grid system. >> >> NASA Surface meteorology and Solar Energy claims that for Los Gatos >> December is the lowest output. Given a split-the-middle tilt alignment >> of 37 degrees it will receive average full-sun net of 3.5 hours. > > Dave: With these being tree mounted, how likely is full-sun? I'm not familiar with the tree type/density. Are you're looking to avoid having separated solar panels? Richard: I would presume these calculations are all for "open field" conditions? If the panels are under a tree canopy, a lower attack angle may be better to better utilize morning/evening sun. A higher one may be necessary to get a useful charge during peak daylight. I've seen some pretty impressive calculators to work out best guesses for field testing.