Homeowner avoids massive reduction in energy production from shade affected panels

A home owner in Boddington (127kms south of Perth), wanted to install solar but his home is heavily shaded by trees.

The problem with shading is that when just one panel becomes shaded, it can significantly reduce the performance of the system if it has a string inverter.

The homeowner approached me in July 2024 to see if the problem could be mitigated. He still wanted to generate enough solar energy to reduce his bill by half.

I carefully analysed the shading on his home at different times of the day and different months of the year. The shading was an issue for the majority of the year.

When coming up with my recommendation, it was apparent that a traditional string inverter system would not be suitable because when one panel becomes compromised, the rest of the panels in a string become compromised.

Even a small amount of shading from trees or bird droppings will make a significant impact on a string inverter system and massively reduce energy production.

I explained to the homeowner that a DC Optimised inverter system would mitigate shade losses and allow him to still produce enough energy to cover his home's day time electricity consumption.

That's because on a DC Optimised inverter system, the panels operate independently of one another (thanks to Power Optimisers on each panel) and if one panel becomes shaded, the other panels will actually increase their performance to compensate for the affected panel(s).

After I spent time explaining how a DC Optimised system works, the homeowner decided it was the answer for him.

Manufactured by SolarEdge, the DC Optimised system was installed by Solaire Connect last week, without a hiccup.

It's a big win for the homeowner because he's now got a solar system that will meet his energy needs, despite the shading from trees.

It was a big win for me too because I was able to solve the homeowners problem and help him make a decision with absolute confidence.