Solar panel placement

[MTer]

Does anyone have guidelines on how to place solar panels to get the maximum amount of sunlight? Mine are getting only 69% max at the moment, although being on the top of my building in plain sunlight... Seems to be at random?

[Zuleica]

I've noticed a bug were a row of panels totally exposed will vary from panel to panel from 100% down to 70% at high noon. I reported it a long time ago. I'll check again after work today to see if I have any panels showing this bug and if so I'll send the save files to CG.

[GaSmokeEater]

That bug is still there with mine. If they touch each other there is power loss

[00 Critical]

when adding more than one i would put them on each corner and leave a large space between each one if lining them up.

[MTer]

Originally posted by GaSmokeEater:

That bug is still there with mine. If they touch each other there is power loss

Problem is, had this already when I installed the first panel...

[Professor]

Originally posted by MTer:

Does anyone have guidelines on how to place solar panels to get the maximum amount of sunlight?

A while back I did some research into solar panels. Here is a copy/paste of my data:

/------------------------------------/

"A detailed analysis of Solar Panel mechanics"

Just spent over an hour taking down a whole lot of data on how the solar panels operate throughout the day. Hope this information is useful to some of you. Enjoy!

Power____Eff_____Angle___BCU____Time
0.00_____000_____00_____0.00_____00_____Total Darkness
0.01_____020_____05_____0.24_____02
0.02_____030_____10_____0.48_____04
0.03_____040_____20_____0.56_____06
0.04_____060_____30_____0.71_____07
0.05_____069_____40_____0.83_____08
0.06_____079_____60_____1.08_____10
0.07_____089_____70_____1.19_____12
0.07_____100_____80_____1.19_____14
0.07_____100_____90_____1.19_____16_____High Noon
0.07_____100_____80_____1.19_____18
0.07_____100_____70_____1.19_____20
0.07_____100_____60_____1.19_____21
0.06_____085_____40_____1.08_____23
0.05_____069_____30_____1.08_____24
0.04_____062_____20_____0.83_____26
0.03_____041_____10_____0.65_____27
0.02_____030_____05_____0.35_____28
0.01_____020_____02_____0.25_____29
0.00_____000_____00_____0.00_____30_____Total Darkness

Power = How many power units per second are generated at the solar panel.
Eff = How efficient the solar panels are at the moment.
Angle = The approximate angle of the sun in the sky.
BCU = Reading of generated power units being displayed on the BCU.
Time = How many minutes have passed from start of the day to night time.

Some Notes:
Panels are working at their peak efficiency from 14 to 21 minutes into the day.
Other objects casting a shadow onto the panels have no effect on their efficiency.
15 panels located on my 2nd floor roof at around 20 degrees off from the sun’s path.
The only item drawing power during this test was my fridge, drawing 0.25 units/second.
Divide BCU readings by 15 to get results for an individual panel.
All data presented here is not exact and your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps!

[GIJoe597]

As you can see below, all of these hit 100% at the same time, and all stay at the same % throughout the day. There is nothing blocking them, nor do they overlap. They all face the rising sun, east.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601446

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601279

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601083

[MTer]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

As you can see below, all of these hit 100% at the same time, and all stay at the same % throughout the day. There is nothing blocking them. nor do they overlap. They all face the rising sun, east.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601446

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601279

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601083

Thanks! Though I think I've placed them correctly (facing towards sun and not overlapping). I think it's a bug, because I've recently placed a third solar panel, and the previous 2, who where only getting a max of 69%, are now getting 100% along with the third one...

[Zuleica]

Originally posted by MTer:

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

As you can see below, all of these hit 100% at the same time, and all stay at the same % throughout the day. There is nothing blocking them. nor do they overlap. They all face the rising sun, east.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601446

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601279

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=942601083

Thanks! Though I think I've placed them correctly (facing towards sun and not overlapping). I think it's a bug, because I've recently placed a third solar panel, and the previous 2, who where only getting a max of 69%, are now getting 100% along with the third one...

Yes, it is a bug, reported many months ago. The problem seems to jump around depending on how many are placed, maybe the order..dunno. None of mine are overlapped or near a wall and I have the problem.