Vent: Saw solar panels on a brand new strip mall and they were angled all wrong

Drove past this new strip mall off I-35 last weekend near Round Rock. They put solar panels all over the roof which looked cool but I noticed the angle was pretty flat. I stopped and looked closer cause I was curious. Turns out they installed them at like 10 degrees tilt but our lat here needs closer to 20-30 for max sun capture. That's gonna cost the owners a ton in lost power over the next 10 years. I bet some contractor just slapped them on to meet a requirement without actually caring about efficiency. Has anyone else seen this kind of half-baked solar install happening in their area?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek99416d ago

You said "half-baked solar install" and man that reminds me of this apartment complex near me in San Antonio. They put panels on the pool house roof a few years back and I guess nobody checked the trees first. Half the panels are shaded by a giant oak for most of the afternoon. I saw the maintenance guy just hosing bird crap off them last month like that was gonna fix the output. Some contractor just collected the check and bounced.

derek99416d ago

Huh, did the trees grow after the install or were they always there?

the_charlie16d ago

Classic case of installers ignoring the trees then disappearing.