INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF THE VERTICALLY STACKED ARRANGEMENT OF MULTI-SOLAR PANELS FOR ENERGY GENERATION

Solar energy uses captured sunlight to create photovoltaic power (PV) for the uncountable number of electronic devices. This energy conversion allows solar power to operate auto motives, lights, pools, heaters, and gadgets. The efficiency of capturing sunlight energy has been improved. The solar panels have been distributed and installed globally, covering sunny surfaces of mountains, fields, and even floating on the ocean. Most solar panels are aligned side by side, occupying such vast areas, which could destroy the ecology and environment. The objective of the study was to investigate the feasibility of the solar panels vertically stacked to be effective for the purpose of curtailing the land use.

In this study, four solar panels were stacked vertically with the varying gap between them and attempted to quantify the effects of panel layering on electric generation. The solar panels were stacked with predetermined gaps from (0.0 to 38.0) cm, and serially connected with electrical loads and data acquisition system. The voltage waveforms were used for mean voltage change and AUC (Area under the Curve) calculation. Our data demonstrated that the mean voltage AUC to the load was increased with the increase of gap distance linearly with the slope of 0.75 V*s/cm. The load voltage AUC from the side-by-side placement ranged from 30.0 to 180, while that from the vertical placement was 25.0 to 70.0 V*s/cm. It suggested that approximately 50% reduced energy could be harvested by vertical stacking of the solar panels. Though the energy was less when placed vertically, there could be other advantages such as the reduced land use for a beneficial compromise. Further study might be needed for more detailed design for the vertical stacking system.