However the economics of installing solar panels on a roof that does not face the south still usually stack up for the homeowner.
Solar panels roof south facing.
When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective.
Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year.
Why orientation matters with rooftop solar.
The closer to horizontal the better it will be for solar.
The diagram shows how the sun passes over a house with solar panels on the south and west facing roof surfaces.
Do you have to have a south facing roof to have solar panels.
Hi i live in hawaii 96740 and have a south facing roof.
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.
Let s walk you through an average day august 6th to be exact.
Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels.
Debating on a having part of my solar panels 6 out of 20 facing west to catch some sun in the winter or b am i better off making more sun all facing south and banking that extra power made in a partial credit from the electric company for use in the winter time.
In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations.
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.
The flatter a south facing roof is i e.