☀️ Solar Planner Guide

Mastering your solar configuration and efficiency tracking.

Overview

Solar Planner is a high-precision tool designed to help you optimize solar panel placement. It combines astronomical calculations with historical weather patterns to give you the most accurate energy generation estimates possible.

1. Location & Environment

📍 Finding Your Spot

The app automatically detects your location via IP. However, for maximum precision, use the "Pick on Map" button. This allows you to select your exact installation site.

  • Reverse Geocoding: The app will display your city and country name automatically.
  • High Precision: We cache location names at a ~110m precision (0.001°) to ensure nearby sites get accurate labels.
  • Timezones: Timezone offsets update automatically based on your selected coordinates.

2. Panel Orientation

🔄 Azimuth & Tilt

Your panel's orientation is critical to its efficiency:

  • Azimuth: The horizontal direction the panel faces. 180° is due South (Northern Hemisphere ideal).
  • Tilt: The vertical angle. 0° is flat, 90° is vertical.

🛠️ Interactive 3D Control

You can drag the 3D panel directly to adjust its orientation, or use the sliders in the sidebar.

Optimize: Use the "Optimize Orientation" button to find the absolute best theoretical orientation. You can now choose between:

  • Selected Day: Optimizes for the currently viewed date.
  • Custom Period: Select a sequence of months (e.g., April to October) to find the best balanced orientation for a seasonal installation.
  • Full Year: Finds the ideal tilt and azimuth for maximum annual energy yield.

Pro Tip: The app uses an optimized algorithm that balances performance and accuracy by sampling multiple representative days across your selected range.

3. Energy Estimates

Amber vs Blue: The Core Metrics

You will see two sets of numbers throughout the app:

  • Ideal (Amber): The energy you would generate under clear, perfect sky conditions.
  • Real (Blue): The weather-adjusted estimate. This uses 3 years of historical cloud cover data from Open-Meteo to predict realistic generation based on your local climate.

Efficiency Score

The efficiency percentage compares your current setup against a perfectly oriented, unshaded panel at your location. Aim for the highest score possible!

4. Shadow Modeling

🚫 Dealing with Obstacles

If trees or buildings block the sun at certain times, use the Shadow (Obstacles) sliders. Define the "From" and "To" times when your panel is in shadow. The app will immediately recalculate and show the energy loss on the chart and in your scores.

5. Comparisons & Saving

💾 Saved Configurations

Found a good setup? Hit "Save Configuration". This stores the setup permanently on your device (using IndexedDB).

  • Full Context: We save your Location, Azimuth, Tilt, Nominal Power (Watts), Shadow ranges, and Timezone.
  • Quick Load: Simply click a row in the table to instantly restore that entire configuration to the app.
  • Focus: The comparison table highlights Yearly energy totals, allowing you to weigh the long-term benefit of different installation spots.