I took the chance of mounting some 100w monocrystalline solar panels on the wall of my metal building (solar workshop).
If interested, check out my video of the setup at the bottom of the page.
I really needed some extra power for lab experiments and so forth, but did not want the burden of more weed wacking and more obstacles in my yard.
Long story short, I installed a couple of painted 2x4s (recycled from my shed) on the wall facing “approximately” SW, and mounted 2x 100w 12V panels.
Results
It’s been about 9 months, here are the results:
**They produce little power in the morning, but still enough for low power work. Towards the brighter part of the day and evening, they produce good power, aroung 80% of what I’d expect. In winter (and even summer) the sun really hits them hard end of day, which turned out to be pretty handy – because that’s when I need more power.
**The biggest issue is the overhang of the building further shades the panels in the early part of the day, if they are mounted too high up.
**End result: I use these panels every day for running and charging a plethora of gadgets and they have served me well.
The solar panels will stay. I plan to add more. I think it’s a great way to get extra power as long as mounting is very secure. It also looks pretty cool.
Thanks for reading! DD
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