Solar Power DIY

Looks Like The Tree Will Shadow the Solar Panels

By Dave

Looks like the tree will shadow my panels in the winter.

Looks like I am screwed.

I did another calculation on the Cottonwood tree height which came out to 35′ feet tall – which is good the news, the bad news is once it grows a bit more my planned solar panels will be shaded in the winter.

I found the following on the Town of Superior’s web site:

“Cottonwood trees typically grow several feet per year, depending on moisture, and reach heights of 50-70 feet.”

So it looks like the Cottonwoods planted in my town have a max height of 70 feet.

I found the angles of the sun path for my location shown below – 27 degrees in the winter and 73 in the summer.

So it looks like my solar project might be coming to an end because of this major road block.

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Andy said in July 30th, 2007 at 12:12 pm

not trying to be ecologically unfriendly, but shouldn’t you just cut down the tree? Or even chop the top off. I know trees are nice for privacy and all, but plant another one or something. It looks like you have already put a lot of work into this, you might as well do it!