I have a simulation which has two arrays that are facing 180 degrees apart. One faces generally Westward (Array 1), the other Eastward (Array 2). I am using microinverters on each panel.
I would expect that the East facing array would generate power mostly in the morning and mid-afternoon, while the Westward facing one would generate power mostly in the mid-afternoon to early evening.
However, when I look at the "DC Gross Power" hourly data, I found a very curious thing. Both arrays start and stop producing power at exactly the same time each day. For example, at 6:00 AM on Aug 19, Array 1 and Array 2 both start producing energy. Array 1 produces 0.12 kW, and Array 2 produces 0.45 kW. This is not entirely surprising, as the sun rises in my location on that day at around 6:40 AM.
However, both array's output drops completely to zero in the 7:00 pm hour. This is despite the fact that the sun doesn't set until nearly 8:20 PM.
I would expect that either both arrays produce some energy throughout all the sunlight hours (sunrise to sunset) or that at least Array 1 shuts down after Array 2.
Is there something in the simulation that is causing this? Or do I just have the wrong idea about how this should work?
There is not significant shading in the westward direction, so that's not the reason.
thank you.