I have a 10x10 shed where the west side of the roof gets a lot of sun in the afternoon while the east side is shaded by trees. I'm considering installing solar panels on the west side to power a mini split heat pump and my homelab server which uses about 300 watts. I also want to charge batteries for my yard tools and add some LED lights. I'm curious if there's a way to measure how much sunlight I'm getting on that side of the roof. From my backyard camera, it looks like I only get direct sunlight starting around 11 AM and pretty much until sunset. Given that the east side is shaded, am I being overly ambitious about my solar plans?
1 Answer
If you're looking to maximize solar potential, consider setting up a small array on the ground instead. It's often easier than climbing up on the roof, plus you can orient it to catch more sun based on the time of day.