Solar Panels Not South Facing Roof

For years homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south.

Solar panels not south facing roof.

Many solar panel installers advise not to install on roofs more than 45º from south i e. One solution is to compensate by increasing the solar collector area either using more panels or larger collectors. The conventional wisdom says no solar should never be installed on a south facing roof. 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.

Between south west and south east. That captures the most solar energy over the course of the day which benefits the homeowner but. Here are a few examples for charlotte miami and minneapolis. West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think.

To get an accurate picture of generation potential savings and income you would need a site assessment from accredited installers. 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. 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. Why isn t energy production as bad as expected.

How much will your roof direction affect the output of your solar panels. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year. 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 depends on both the direction of your roof and the pitch of the roof.

Solar panels work best when they re directly facing the sun and the sun sheds the most light during the middle of the day when it s to the north of australia. Others say it s fine as long as you install the additional technologies.