General models for optimum tilt angles of solar panels: Turkey case study

This paper deals with finding the optimum tilt angle of solar panels for solar energy applications. The optimization of tilt angles was performed using solar radiation data measured for eight big provinces in Turkey. The optimum angle for tilted surfaces varying from 0 degrees to 90 degrees in steps of 1 degrees was calculated by searching for the values of which the daily total solar radiation was at a maximum for a specific period. It was found that the optimum tilt angle changed between 0 degrees and 65 degrees throughout the year in Turkey. It was seen that the optimum tilt angle reached a minimum of 0 degrees in June and July and, the monthly average daily total radiation at this angle was generally at a maximum. In addition, the optimum tilt angle increased during the winter months and reached a maximum in December in all provinces. Likewise, general correlations were developed to estimate the optimum tilt angle of solar collectors used in Turkey and their accuracies were compared on the basis of statistical error tests of Mean Bias Error (MBE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), t-statistic (t-stat) and correlation coefficient (r). (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.