solar angle

[JWFITZ]

Bottom line, again. If you're serious about building an array that performs at all close to the wattage rating of the panels, you will need a tracking system. The closer one is to the equator, the more important tracking becomes. If you do not understand why, go outside and point at the direction that the sun comes up and where it sets and note that these points are near 180 degrees apart for much of the year. The closer one gets to the poles, these points are closer to 150 degrees or even less. This allows static systems to be more effective in higher latitudes. Current higher output panels are higher output mostly because they're less tolerant of light at low levels of incidence relative to the face of the panel.

Tracking systems are cheap compared to the cost of panels and the rest. I know it's easier to just pop them up on the roof and forget about it, but you'll be running that generator a whole lot more . . .