The energy farm's solar panels are being installed and calibrated in Winter 2006. Like the wind turbine, they will first be mounted on the ground for troubleshooting and calibration prior to installation on a raised surface.

One of the first design considerations when installing the solar panels is to ensure the optimum angle for the maximum amount of solar energy capture. Using the method described by Charles R. Landau on his webpage detailing the topic, we calculated the following optimal angles (above horizontal) for a due-south facing solar panel at our latitude of 49.5° North:

Summer: 21°

Spring / Autumn: 47°

Winter: 73°

We have designed our mounting system to take into account angle changes througout the year. As we are using dexion frames (thankfully abundant at the farm) to build this, it should present no particular challenges. A schematic of the design is shown below.

The actual construction of one of the frames (2006-09-01):