Do Solar Panels Need To Face North

Solar panels convert light into dc electricity.

Do solar panels need to face north.

As you move farther to the north the sun has a lower position in the sky and solar panels must be tilted more. Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels. 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. In locations that are not far to the north such as florida or texas solar panels do not need a drastic tilt.

Do you have to have a south facing roof to have solar panels. The flatter the roof the less solar energy production falls when panels face east or west rather than south. In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations. 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.

However because of the reduction in the total amount of electricity generated compared to north facing panels the increase in self consumption that will result will need to be considerable to make west facing solar panels worthwhile. West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think. In general there s one big rule. 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.

The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle to work. If you re in the u s. Over the last few years we have created the first online solar production calculator that works out the exact solar production that you will get for your home based on the direction and. The more sunlight reaches your solar panels the more electricity you can generate and the more money you ll be able to save on your electric bill.

The steeper it is the more it is an issue. We are looking at installing a 5kw system lg neon 2 panels and fornius inverter on a double storey house and had initially thought of splitting the panels between our north east and west facing roofs so that we got production over most of the day 8 panels north 4 east and 4 west. I would be grateful for any thoughts suggestions on the direction to face solar panels. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.

Net energy metering and time of use. When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective. Or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere the best direction for solar panels to face is true south though there is an exception. North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on.

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. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south.