Do Solar Panels Need To Face South

The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle.

Do solar panels need to face south. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. During times of peak demand which is defined as 3 p m. 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. North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on.

By the same reasoning if the solar panel is located in the southern hemisphere the panel should instead face in the direction of true north. It actually facing north east. When you point your solar panels west you are not maximizing the total amount of energy that is produced. In any pv system related project we tend to set up solar panels to face the solar south rather than the magnetic south.

Or you could point the needle north south and face the panels. Does my house have to face south for solar to work. It seems that west facing solar panels would help you to do that to a much greater degree than generally recommend south facing solar panels. West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think.

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. 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. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity. 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.

We can install panels on south east or west facing roofs. In texas s ercot territory 84 percent of electricity in west facing systems was used in the home. The short answer is no. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.

However the economics of installing solar panels on a roof that does not face the south still usually stack up for the homeowner. I was a little confused as i always thought the panel needed to be 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. What you are doing is optimizing your energy production for maximum savings with your utility company.

If i was to turn in around on the same bracket it is mounted to it would be facing south to south west. To do this you should point your solar panel west. The direction your panels face is certainly a factor in how much they will generate and closer to south is better but it is only one factor.