Solar Panel Facing

One solution is to compensate by increasing the solar collector area either using more panels or larger collectors.

Solar panel facing.

If you are looking to achieve cost savings by installing your own solar power system it is highly recommended that you put some time aside and carefully analyze and determine the the right location for your solar. According to the concord consortium makers of energy3d solar energy modeling software a home in boston ma with panels that face west would get 80 of the electricity that a house with south facing panels would. Therefore the best angle for your solar panels is the one that allows the panels to get the most direct perpendicular light. Pick the right location and solar panel direction.

Solar panels produce electricity when sunlight hits their surface and they produce the most energy when that sunlight is exactly perpendicular to the panel face. Solar panels facing east or west won t get as much light as those on a southern facing roof. For example in brisbane if your panels are facing west 270 and are angled 20 from horizontal you will get 89 of the energy compared to the optimum orentation of north and 30. Net energy metering and time of use.

For australia solar power yields are higher when panels face north. This table shows you how much energy you can expect to get from almost any combination of solar panel direction and angle in the capital cities compared to the optimum orientation. Different results can be expected based on its orientation. However the economics of installing solar panels on a roof that does not face the south still usually stack up for the homeowner.

In fact all southern hemisphere locations should ideally position panels in a northerly direction. Solar panels installed on a roof facing southwest or southeast will generally produce about 8 less power than the same panels in the same climate on a south facing roof. This being the case the general best practice to date has always been to position solar panels facing south in order to capture the maximum amount of sunlight overall. Consider reading about how a solar panel works before moving forward.

Generally it s common knowledge in the solar industry that these south facing panels should be tilted between a 30 and 40 degree angle. Since the majority of solar panel owners keep their system on the grid we can split this grouping into simply those who pay for energy based on a tou payment. However it has been proven that west facing solar panels can produce more power. As a result solar panels facing south produce the most electricity.

The direction that your solar panels face is ultimately dependent on whether or not your system is connected through net energy metering nem and under a time of use tou payment structure. West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think.