Seasonal tilt optimization

Hi,
My PV system has the ability to manually adjust the tilt angle, so I`d like to use the Seasonal Tilt feature in System Design.  If I wanted to find the optimal tilt angle for each month in, say, Kansas City, Missouri, how would I do it?
Tks,
Dennis

Hi Dennis,

That optimization problem is a little tricky because it involves 12 parameters: The tilt angle for each month. You could do it by hand, trying different ranges of tilt angles by month, or you could write a script to do it automatically. You can learn about SAM's scripting language LK here: sam.nrel.gov/lk-script.html .

To design the optimization strategy, you'd need to answer a couple of questions to determine the appropriate metric to use for the optimization. For example, is there a different cost associated with the different tilt angles, or would the cost be the same regardless of the tilt angle? (Steeper tilt angles might require stronger support structures to withstand wind loads and cost more than for lower tilt angles.) Are there limits to the range of values you would consider?

The simplest strategy would be to choose tilt angles that maximize annual output (or minimize net present value) without accounting for cost differences.

Best regards,
Paul.