Why Solar Panels Face South

North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on.

Why solar panels face south.

The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle. If you are charged a tou electricity tariff you can take advantage of this. We can install panels on south east or west facing roofs. This is so that you can expose your solar panels to as much light as possible to optimize their energy production.

The short answer is no. If your roof faces slightly off south or even straight east west it is still very likely that solar pv could generate savings and income for you. We re not concerned with the magnetic poles just where the sun is. 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.

It has a southern offset especially in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky. South facing panels produced a 54 percent peak reduction overall while west facing solar pv panels produced a 65 percent peak reduction. Now all of this is very important for utilities and legislators who are in charge of offering incentives for solar power or other measures that could reduce electricity demand at the height of the day. For those who are not part of a tou model with their utility company the direction that you want to face your solar panels is south.

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. Face panels south for non tou ratepayers. Does my house have to face south for solar to work. The sun moves in the sky from east to west each day but it isn t straight overhead unless you are on the equator.

As previously mentioned solar panels become more productive in the afternoon if they face west. In any pv system related project we tend to set up solar panels to face the solar south rather than the magnetic south. Dave i think i know south is the best way to orient my solar panels or north if you happen to live in the southern hemisphere but do i want to face them magnetic south or true south dave. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity.

West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think. It turns out that the best fixed position for. In general solar panels that are oriented directly east or directly west will produce about 20 percent less electricity than if they were facing south. Although doing this only brings about a 3 improvement in energy collection it will be a big deal if your solar array is huge or your extreme condition requires getting as much energy conversion as possible.