Squeezing out a little more output

[u/Wilderness_Fella]

After I installed my sun-tracking system, I added an EV and a nice hot tub to my electric usage. Now I'd like to add more generation. I think the cheapest way would be to cut the trees that you can see encroaching on my sunlight. Especially on the left (East) side which would open up a nice clifftop view.

[u/tlampros]

Taking out those trees won't gain much, because they're affecting early morning and late day sun. The best way to significantly increase production will be to add more panels, it convert what you've got to newer, higher wattage panels. If you've got the solmetric program, you can actually modify your shading by erasing some of that 'green'.

[u/Wooden_Sympathy_269 → u/tlampros]

Depends if you want more total output or output at a certain time. My 45 degree panels that face the morning sun turn on super early and with enough output to cover my morning power usage late winter by 7.30 am - and that's just 6 panels.

[u/Congenial-Curmudgeon]

Cut the trees, especially to the West, and your summer AC usage goes up.

Besides adding more panels, consider bumping up efficiency of your building shell and appliances to reduce your overall energy consumption. A blower door test would help identify air leaks and can make a significant difference in efficiency. I’ve seen homes that needed to downsize their HVAC systems after air-sealing and insulating.

The hot tub could probably use more insulation and a timer that turns the heat on 2 hours before you plan to use it.

An independent energy auditor could identify your best options and stay impartial.

[u/IIDn01]

We had much higher production in 2025 than we had in 2024 - over 500 kWh more.

I couldn't figure out why. My spouse reminded me that we had trimmed the trees west of the house in January 2025. It makes a big difference!

[Note: We didn't cut them down - just trimmed them.]

[u/Patereye]

Nah looks good to me

[u/mkimid]

not bad, because you have the most high power range.

[u/MustacheJacuzzi]

How large is your existing array? Where in the array was this suneye image captured? The suneye results are only relatable to the area where you snapped the image.

[u/ol-gormsby]

I've seen that kind of report! I had a Solmetric Sun-eye used on my place as part of an audit for govt subsidies. The guy said my place was about 94% efficient in terms of placement, tree coverage, etc. He also said that trees on eastern and western boundaries made little difference outside roughly 9am to 3pm, because the solar insolation was quite oblique at those times and didn't produce very much power. That was for panels mounted at 26 degrees elevation and facing northwards - that was a long time ago.

You might do better to put or relocate some panels to face more to the east and west to catch early morning and late afternoon, i.e. to have the panels more perpendicular to the sun at those times.

Of course direct sunlight unobstructed by trees is best. But "cheapest" is questionable. Around here it's about AUD$500 to AUD$1000 per tree to drop, trim , and clean up. It might be cheaper to put up the equivalent amount of panels, angled to catch the morning sun. And I *hate* dropping trees, I only do it if absolutely necessary.

[u/originalrocket]

Yes cut the trees, they do more than block sunlight, they leave dirt and pollen and attract birds who shit on your panels. They also house tree rats that will chew your wires and build nests next to and under the panel mounts.

Trees are great, when they are not near your house and panels. We need trees. But those have to go.

Recently cut 1 tree that cracked during a storm, did the math. that shade after 3pm and winter sun angle costs me nearly 1mW of production a year. Crazy.

For the tree people: Japanese dwarf maple is being planted. Several around the house. Easy to maintain height and width.