Do Solar Panels Need To Face South

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Do solar panels need to face south.

For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. However the electricity system is not as simple as it sometimes seems and the best direction to face solar panels may actually be west. When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective. Usually this is the best direction because solar panels will receive direct light throughout the day.

In the usa solar panels work best if they face due south but there may be several good reasons to choose east or west facing solar panels instead. Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels. The conventional wisdom in the northern hemisphere is that the best direction to face solar panels is south since that is generally where they d receive the most sunlight. North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on.

North now that s a problem. The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle to work. In the northern hemisphere the general rule for solar panel placement is solar panels should face true south and in the southern true north. Plenty of systems get installed on western systems and eastern and south eastern etc.

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. We can install panels on south east or west facing roofs. 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. In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations.

The short answer is no. Assuming you ve got good subsidies net metering and good sun it s still going to be very cost effective for you. Do you have to have a south facing roof to have solar panels. However what utilities really want are west facing panels to hit peak.

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. Your roof does not have to face exactly south true or not. In texas the current structure of compensating for the energy produced by solar panels incentivizes south facing panels. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity.

In any pv system related project we tend to set up solar panels to face the solar south rather than the magnetic south.