Hacker News Reader

Comment by datacruncher01 | Hacker News Reader

I think eventually the hardware will be so cheap it'll make more sense to use them as solar fences. Reduce the cost to install and maintain by 3-4x easily. Or DIY for practically nothing.

View on HN

There's an apartment building here in Seattle which has solar panels mounted flat on its west-facing wall (602 12th Ave). The panels were apparently cheap enough that they did not care about maximizing daylight exposure and simply installed them in the easiest place. Quite a change this is from what I remember when I had solar panels installed on my roof eleven years ago!

West-facing is pretty close to revenue maximizing, with current consumption peaks in the early evening.

I remember asking a friend who understood solar what angle was best to capture the most energy. He told me "you don't aim for the sun, you aim for PG&E"

There’s an Undecided video on this exact topic https://youtu.be/LqizLQDi9BM?si=nnWVU-Espt7a6VDv

This is fantastic! Somehow I hadn't heard about vertically mounted solar panels until now but it sounds great. There are so many advantages to vertical mounts I would expect them to become the norm.

There is research coming out that vertical solar panels are more efficient. I think part of it comes from lower temps allowing for more efficient operating. No tracking or pointing required. Less cleaning as its not a flat surface for dust or fall impacts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AVO1IyfA9M

edit: I see others have linked similar videos, all good sources on this topic.

"already, across Europe, homeowners are building garden fences with solar panels simply because it’s not much more expensive than doing so using traditional materials — namely, wood." https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/opinion/solar-power-free-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com