Solar Efficiency Roof Orientation

Solar panels facing east or west won t get as much light as those on a southern facing roof.

Solar efficiency roof orientation.

Go west young one. Well when it comes to solar panels west is second best. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. If your roof faces east west rather than north south you have a few options.

Small variations away from these ideals will not result in a significant difference in the power output of your solar energy system which is why the natural tilt angle of your roof is usually fine and keeping that tilt frames can add significantly to the cost of your system putting a damper on the value of the solar power it produces. As most roofs are not flat your solar contractor will factor the pitch of your roof into the equation. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year. The ideal orientation for a solar panel array is due north and the ideal tilt angle is the angle of your latitude e g.

Fixed panels are stationary and remain at the same pitch throughout the day and year. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. One solution is to compensate by increasing the solar collector area either using more panels or larger collectors. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.

But what if you don t have a suitable south facing roof. Fixed or tracking solar panels. Other orientation options while the general consensus in the solar power industry is that either west or south is the best direction for solar panels to face these two options don t necessarily address the needs of every individual solar user. For australia solar power yields are higher when panels face north.

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. Fixed or tracking solar panels. There are two types of solar panel mounting options. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.

Orientation of the panels while the angle of your solar panels is important a more important factor in your energy production is going to be the direction your panels face. In the northern hemisphere the sun crosses the sky a little to the south which means putting solar panels on a south facing roof is the best way for homeowners to capture the most solar energy. Adding modules on the north side of the roof will not add much bang for the customer s solar buck and would qualify as solar malpractice in my book. The effect of orientation on solar output the direction solar panels should ideally face for optimum sun exposure varies depending on location.

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar in general solar panels that are oriented directly east or directly west will produce about 20 percent less electricity than if they were facing south. In fact all southern hemisphere locations should ideally position panels in a northerly direction. Each situation is unique in terms of roof angle property layout and power consumption.