site analysis and solar design
Arrow Energy places a huge emphasis on the quality of our solar system designs. All installers have access to basically the same equipment, the difference is how and where they are placed on your roof. Their placement impacts system performance, but also the aesthetic quality of the array. A well designed array should maximize system performance and blend in with your home increasing it's value, not stand out drawing attention to itself.
Software
Site analysis used to involve glass domes and hand drawn shade profiles. Since then companies like Aurora Solar have pushed site accuracy and performance analysis to new limits. Using cutting edge technology like LiDAR (one of the main technologies for self driving cars), rapid 3D modeling and submodule level performance simulations maximizes bill savings and ROI.
By using these advanced software programs we can quickly analyze your roof, run powerful performance simulations and have an accurate and viable design for you in a fraction of the time it used to take. It also allows us to work on the design live with you, making design iterations and alternative energy use scenarios easy to accomplish.
All of this results in a more efficient and effective process, reducing the number of steps and getting you better designs at more affordable prices!
Solar Potential
Perhaps the most important element in the solar design equation. Solar potential is a combination of several factors:
- Irradiance - this is the amount of sunlight that hits your roof. Obstructions likes trees, telephone poles, neighboring buildings, chimneys and other roof obstructions all impact irradiance.
- Tilt Orientation Factor (TOF) - Somewhat unique to solar the TOF assigns a value based on the azimuth of your roof (compass heading) and the pitch at a specific geographic location. The closer to perpendicular the panel is to the sun the better the TOF is. This is what causes the production curve all fixed solar arrays exhibit.
- Total Solar Resource Fraction (TSRF) - This factor is a combination of the irradiance and TOF. It is used to find the best location for a solar array at any location. The Aurora Solar software gives us this measurement at every point visually and numerically on a roof, allowing us to quickly optimize the location and performance of an array.
Designing Solar for Maximum Bill Savings
The goal of any solar design is to get the most savings out of the fewest solar modules on a roof. One way to do this is by using advanced equipment, efficient modules and microinverters that minimize the impact of shading and increase design flexibility is a great start.
In addition to site factors and equipment TOU Rate Structures also have to be taken into account. In our location unshaded South roofs will always result in the most kWh production. However when TOU rates are taken into account SW or W roofs can sometimes provide more bill savings because kWh produced later in the day, after 3PM in the summer, are worth more. Arrow Energy uses the best utility rate analysis tools that quickly run through these complicated factors and allow us to find the best system possible design for each of our customers unique needs.