Roof Direction For Solar Panels

If your roof does not face the right direction then surface mounted panels or pole mounted panels may be your best bet.

Roof direction for solar panels.

To do this you should point your solar panel west. Azimuth is a fancy word for the direction your panels face while tilt is a measurement of their angle up from horizontal. Generally it s common knowledge in the solar industry that these south facing panels should be tilted between a 30 and 40 degree angle. On the other hand if you live in the southern hemisphere you can use this same technique.

However you would want to face your solar panels in the opposite direction of where your shadows face. Go west young one. The direction that your roof faces also referred to as the azimuth angle is the primary factor determining how much sunshine your solar panels will see over the course of the day. It is at this location that your panels will receive the maximum sunlight throughout the day.

Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. 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. This angle varies and is just about equal to the latitude of your home how far north you are in relation to the equator. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.

Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. What you are doing is optimizing your energy production for maximum savings with your utility company. This means that your solar panels will be put in a unique direction specifically to maximize energy production between this time range. 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.

However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Solar panels are most effective when installed on south facing roofs. If you re installing solar panels on a roof the azimuth will be determined by which direction your roof points and the tilt will likely be fixed based on the pitch of your roof. When you point your solar panels west you are not maximizing the total amount of energy that is produced.

An easy way to determine the direction that your roof faces is to use google maps. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. This is a simple tried and true way to find the perfect direction and like i said you can do it with no tools. Each situation is unique in terms of roof angle property layout and power consumption.

In some cases your solar installer will install racks that allow the panels to be tilted slightly to maximize production. But what if you don t have a suitable south facing roof. 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.