Optimal Direction For Solar Panels

The traditional advice is to position solar panels to be south facing.

Optimal direction for solar panels.

The conventional wisdom in the northern hemisphere is that the best direction to face solar panels is south since that is generally where they d receive the most sunlight. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west.

Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. However the electricity system is not as simple as it sometimes seems and the best direction to face solar panels may actually be west. There are two methods for calculating the tilt angle for solar panels. What is the best direction for my solar panels.

Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. To correct the compass reading your solar installer will calculate the magnetic declination of your site. Latitude x 0 9 23 5 degrees. In the northern hemisphere the general rule for solar panel placement is solar panels should face true south and in the southern true north.

Once you have figured this out you can use one of the formulas below to calculate the best angle for your solar panels for each season. Pick the right location and solar panel direction. The direction solar panels should face is true south a k a. Similarly you can calculate the angle for winter by adding 15.

However it has been proven that west facing solar panels can produce more power. Latitude 2 5 degrees. This is because for those of us living in the northern hemisphere the sun is always along the southern part of the sky as we complete our yearly orbit around it. Whatever your latitude is you can subtract 15 from it to calculate the angle for summer.

Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch. Solar south or geographic south. True south can also be calculated at noon when shadows from vertical objects run north south. The conventional understanding is that the ideal solar panel direction is facing south.

Latitude x 0 9 29 degrees.