The highest efficiency solar panels on the market today can reach almost 23 percent efficiency.
Solar panel efficiency north facing.
North facing panels on the other hand generally produce much less energy than south facing panels and usually present challenges for homeowners looking to go solar as panels installed on these roofs will not produce enough to make financial sense.
With a 2 12 pitched roof 9 5 tilt the south facing.
How much worse are north facing solar modules.
Depending on your location and roof pitch you re going to lose somewhere between 10 20 efficiency as a result of not having panels facing in a due north direction.
Options for properties with north facing roofs.
In general west is second best because many places get early morning haze or fog which can reduce the power production of your panels.
We designed and modeled the system in helioscope our sales and design software platform.
Factors that affect solar panel efficiency.
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 panels have been consistently increasing in efficiency at about 5 annually since 2010.
That goes double if you get any fog or mist in the morning which will reduce the efficiency of the east facing panels.
Usually this is the best direction because solar panels will receive direct light throughout the day.
But we wanted to ask how bad is it to put solar panels on a north facing roof.
The average efficiency of solar panels falls between the 17 to 19 percent efficiency range.
In the northern hemisphere the general rule for solar panel placement is solar panels should face true south and in the southern true north.
However there is a difference between magnetic south and true south that must be considered.
We start with a typical residential system in charlotte north carolina.
Their electricity production through the day will be between that of north and facing panels and that of west facing panels.
Solar panels that face north west will produce around 5 less electricity overall than north facing panels.
In boston a solar array at 30 degrees south is still going to produce more electricity than tilted at 42 degrees and facing north.
West facing solar panels will also prepare you if your utility ever switched to time of use tou billing because they.
We have a blog about east and west facing solar panels and the basic gist is this.
If you have the option to place the panels in more of a north east or north west direction it is recommended.
