Wiley Asset Solar Site Evaluation Tool

The ASSET consists of a precise positioning system, a digital camera, and software.

Figure 4 shows the ASSET in an upright position, as if mounted on a camera tripod. Note the bull's-eye type bubble level for leveling the positioning system. The compass is used to point the system towards the equator (south in the northern hemisphere) because the path of the sun appears in that portion of the sky. The compass has an inner ring which may be used to correct for local magnetic declination. The camera is facing east in the picture and set to an angle of 22.5 degrees. Move your mouse pointer over the animation to see how the system may be positioned to take a series of 7 pictures from east to west.

The pictures in Figure 5 are a set of digital photographs taken at the seven positions. Note that the array will not be mounted on this building, this building represents a possible obstruction for the pole mounted array (which was eventually installed on the other side of the parking lot from this building).

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Figure 6 shows a composite panorama assembled from the seven photographs. Superimposed on the panorama is the path of the sun averaged over each month of the year. The yellow numbers on the grid represent the hours of the day, 6am to 6pm, reading left to right. The months of the year are also indicated in yellow on the lower left of the panorama. As can be seen, the site has some morning and evening shading, especially during winter, but midday is mostly unobstructed. Exposure is excellent during the summer.

So that's it... It's really that simple! If you would like a more detailed description of the assembly, operation and software associated with this tool please view our Instruction Manual.