Ideal Orientation For Solar Panels

The direction solar panels should face is true south a k a.

Ideal orientation for solar panels.

Solar south or geographic south. The angle that a solar panel should be set. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. 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.

True south can also be calculated at noon when shadows from vertical objects run north south. There is a difference. Fixed tilt solar. The rule is that if you live in the southern hemisphere you should point your panels true north and if you live in the northern hemisphere you should point them true south.

While this is not a bad direction it is often possible to get a very small boost by having them face slightly away from due north. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. On the contrary in the countries of the southern hemisphere such as south africa and australia the best orientation is true north. Directly north isn t always best it is generally accepted the best direction to face solar panels to get the maximum possible output is directly north.

Their electricity production through the day will be between that of north and facing panels and that of west facing panels. In the northern hemisphere the general rule for solar panel placement is solar panels should face true. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully. The angle or tilt of a solar panel is also an important consideration.

However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Solar panels that face north west will produce around 5 less electricity overall than north facing panels. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south.

To correct the compass reading your solar installer will calculate the magnetic declination of your site. Solar panels should always face true south in the northern hemisphere north in the southern hemisphere tilted from the hoizontal at a degree equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. Now a compass tells you magnetic north and south but it does not show you true north and south. Since solar panels are more productive when the sun s rays are perpendicular to their surfaces the certainly best orientation is the one directly true south azimuth angle 180.

However the electricity system is not as simple as it sometimes seems and the best direction to face solar panels may actually be west. Solar panel orientation direction. 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.