Solar Panels On Back Side Of South Facing Roof

If you don t have a south facing roof east or west facing panels can also be an option you will typically see only a 20 decrease in energy production from a roof facing due east or west.

Solar panels on back side of south facing roof.

Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels. That optimal tilt will make you an estimated 7 732 kwh in a year from 5 5 kw of solar panels. The northern side of a roof is the most common place for solar panels to be mounted in australia as that side gets the most sunlight over the course of a sunny day. That captures the most solar energy over the course of the day which benefits the homeowner but.

Do you have to have a south facing roof to have solar panels. Let s walk you through an average day august 6th to be exact. 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. The results backed us up on this theory showing poor.

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. An ideal south facing roof here is pitched at 7 12 39ish degrees and the north side of that roof will produce less than half as much electricity. North facing panels on the other hand generally produce. We also took at look at a tilt angle of 40 for the south facing orientations mainly just to show that a south facing roof with a steep pitch is probably not a good place for solar panels.

For years homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south. Even if your roof doesn t face directly south you can still produce quite a bit of electricity. The sun rises at 5 52 am and begins directly shining on the south facing panels at 8 15. Adding modules on the north side of the roof will not add much bang for the customer s solar buck and would qualify as solar malpractice in my book.

When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective. The flatter a south facing roof is i e. On a north facing roof at 25 7 that would be 5 362. The diagram shows how the sun passes over a house with solar panels on the south and west facing roof surfaces.

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. For most of the usa it s between 25 and 38 south to north. 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. In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations.

Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year.