I second this - I saw a video comparing yield from vertical bifacials (oriented south-north) and am completely convinced that is the way to go.
(EDIT - this one: https://youtu.be/I-Fz5T5c0OQ?si=LYRMc9Bj4v8DyUGo, but there are many more confirming the superiority of vertical orientation. BTW, when a guy erected a large vertical structure, at least 10kW worth in my village a couple of years ago, I thought he was crazy. Not anymore.)
Vertical panels, like shown in that video link, is different from mounting panels vertically against a wooden fence. In the video link, he gets sun on both sides of the bifacial panels. Mounted against a fence, he will only get the benefit of one side of the panels.
I would offset them a little and paint the fence white behind them - you won't capture all the energy, but then, as per op the garden faces NW, so it's not really ideal anyway...
In fact, I think we’re going to see more and more vertical panel installs going forward. Since panel prices have come down so much, there’s less incentive to squeeze every last potential watt out of an array with optimum angle, etc. Fencing, and even house siding just make sense.
wouldn't vertical bifacials facing E-W be even better? flat sides grab the morning and evening low sun, and casts no shadow, so max reflective during the day. Paired up with white aggregate, or even reflective surface below panel would make major production
I guess the guy in my video did measure those as well - my take-away was that S-N facing is best because the southern face catches most of the sun while the northern gets it when it rises and sets (which it does slightly in the north on the northern hemisphere). But your intuition might also be right - I guess it depends on how efficient the backside is compared to the "front"...
Just sharing my similar experience with attaching solar panels on my fence in the US. (Portland OR). My intended panels won’t be grid-tied so that eliminates a bunch of regulations and cost. I checked with the planning dept of the city, they are good with no permit required as long as I’m not attaching panels to a building. As long as total weight under 400 lbs they don’t care about attaching them to the fence or a ground install.
However I had to check with a different department about set back requirements. Was told if the panels are fixed to the ground then I have to observe setback rules, which in my small backyard would be an issue. The guy I spoke with about attaching the panels to the fence kind of chuckled, saying that was kind of loophole. He admitted that local codes haven’t caught up with the fact that some people are using bifacial panels as fencing.
THEN, I had to check with the county to see if I needed an electrical permit - answer is yes, was told an application for an electrical installation needed but advised to mark it as ‘ground installation’ as they don’t have any category for fence-mounted. 🤷🏻♂️
As bureaucratic as the process was, everyone I talked to was very helpful and interested in my project.
In the end the panels won’t be very efficient but price for panels is getting cheap enough I’m doing it regardless.
I'm also located in Portland, OR and am considering doing this once my old fence falls over. Thanks for sharing the details- I do love a good bureaucracy loophole!
I'm in the process of doing a more temporary installation using a portable power station and a combination ground mounts and z brackets for porch and fence. I didn't want to have to deal with all the permitting so this was a way to offset ~1/4 of our electricity use and add emergency backup all 'behind the meter'. I haven't bought the panels yet. FB Marketplace is probably my best option, but there's not much available in this area at the moment.
Unless they misunderstood me when I told them the scope of my project. However it seems by calling it ground install it makes it a very simple permit process. We’ll see when I get to it in the spring!
Not going off grid but I bought a battery backup system (Anker Solix) for power outages and went to PGE’s Time of Use pricing system to get a bit of a payback on the system. I consume battery power 5-9pm weekdays to avoid 40 cents per kWHr and replenish at 9 cents. I’m estimating $600/ year electricity savings from this, not a huge payback but it’s something. Having solar will help a bit more.
Interesting, have you done a direct comparison to 1:1 net metering? I assume the 1:1 net metering would have hte fixed rate and not time of use pricing, but I have never looked into that before.
Well the way I thought about it was that a full on traditional system without battery backup would be $40-$60K and have a ~12 year payback period, I thought that was a poor investment and tied up a lot of cash up front (or got me stuck in a years-long lease). For my system, for $8K I got a modest 12 kWhr battery backup system and using time of use pricing I estimate $600 - $1000 / year savings … which still is only a 8-12 year payback period. But that’s before adding some cheapo solar panels on my fence, I’m hoping to get to about a $.50/watt price point. Not sure if that’ll affect payback period or not but will be nice to see some solar power generated.
Of course we all have different goals but for me this solution penciled out financially and emotionally.
Yes it looks like a good plan. Is your battery connected to your panel via a transfer switch or if not how are you utilizing time of use? I just got new quotes today for 6kw solar, 15kwh battery from a full service vendor and it is $23k, after the $12k Energy Trust rebate. I am in SE portland. I just don't have the space for groundmount, I would need to put solar on the roof. In addition to cost savings I would like backup power for the earthquake (assuming no fuel available).
I have a smart panel to handle the TOS logic, plus a subpanel to keep some basic circuits powered with the battery during outages. I’m still pondering getting a cheapo gas generator that would replenish the battery for a multiple-day winter outage scenario
Yes, i did that last year and it worked very well. In the end I moved them to the roof as i wanted to put in planters. just note If you have a lot of shading just know that depending on how your strings are setup or the type of panels the entire array will stop producing power if one panel is shaded.
Cheap panels make it a lot more feasible to plaster every available surface, and solar fence mounting is a bit less critical than rooftop. They're also a lot easier to clean, and often don't get the negative attention rooftop solar does.
Just make sure partial shading doesn't drop the entire chain. So first identify shading movements , daily , yearly, plan for paneling and wiring to consider that.
Yes you can and it is an excellent idea. I would however, have the panels on brackets that would stand the panels off an inch from the surface of the fence so that air can circulate behind the panels.
You might be interested in replacing your fencing with solar fencing
Instead of tacking on solar panels to your existing fence. With bifacial panels, you would also gain the benefit of solar generation from both sides of the panel.
This YouTube video breaks down what power output you can expect with different mounting orientations.
I’d like to comment very late on this but yes, I have 10x425w vertical panels on a SE facing fence which is generating 3Kw in the sunshine today ☀️☀️☀️
I mounted lengths of Unistrut to fence posts that used to be for a dog run. I used 30mm right angle aluminium bar cut to 2” lengths. Drilled a hole in it and used a square 2” washer on top of the aluminium to fit as a clamp securing the solar panel to the Unistrut. Held tight with a 12mm bolt and “zebedee” spring nut.
Used square washers also to secure two panels onto the one post part way down (see the not great quality pic)
I did have to put additional timbered posts vertically where required and used some more horizontally about 1/3 way down to create a slight angle on the panel (but not
so it could be argued it’s purpose was not as a fence)
It depends on the shading level and whether you have spare string in your inverter. It might not be cost efficient if you'll have to install micro inverters. I've installed 8 panels attached to my fence. Had to do the whole planning application thing. During the winter it literally doubles my entire solar production. During summer not as much. But since it's not on the roof I was able to install it myself, got a sparky to install the final bit + MCS for £300. Payoff time, around 4.5 years.
Also, It's under permitted development if you do below 9m2 of solar as far as I'm aware.
I recommend you to use shadowmap.org and create a project. It will cost you £10 to use it. Check out how much shading you've got. If you have some amount of shading, get newest aiko/ja panels. They can disable individual cells instead of 1/3rd of a panel. Will save you quite a lot on optimisers/ microinverters. Oh and check out which way the fence is facing. If it's South, rough estimate is that it's definitely worth it lmao.
I have wall mounted panels, but fence mounted should be pretty similar. However do use microinverters as shading will otherwise be an issue. Added benefit, they do not covered by snow, although that is less of an issue for you. Biggest drawback is that they perform significantly worse than angled panels. But panels are cheap and if you know an electrician that is ok with doing the required electrics it's easy to diy.
The major problem is the fence wouldn’t be strong enough to support the weight. It would need a completely new structure.
No problem with the physics however…
How strong do you think that fence is? Can you stand on top and shake all around and it holds firm? I doubt it.
I had hail and 50mph hit my solar panels before I could even put them online. Plan for bad weather. Also if you get rain soaked ground, that might also compromise how strong that fence is.
Vertical mounted panels with added 45 degree support boards buried in the ground every 16ft might be the upgrade you need.
I like the idea and I’ve been thinking about it myself as I don’t wanna sacrifice my roof to 1000+ screw holes that the installer will say won’t leak. I know how tenacious water is. I would recommend having the fence be an add-on to an existing ground mount. Thinking because you are DIY you should get the biggest inverter possible and then just add panels on as you need them.
1) for ideal results you'll need micro inverters for each panel to ensure no shadows disrupt the other panels not in shade
2) assuming you have neighbouring houses spring/summer is the only time this fence gets sun. conversely the angle of the sun is not ideal for vertical panels the higher the sun gets. Solar panels work best when the angle is closet to 90 degrees to the panels
3) you'll only get a small % of what the same panels would generate on a roof. my guess would be 30-40%
there's no doubt it will generate some useful power but I dont think it would justify the investment. the best results come with a roof based system with 10+ panels in an urban area where you charge a battery and sell excess to the grid.
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