Does It Matter Which Way You Orient Solar Panels

Or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere the best direction for solar panels to face is true south though there is an exception.

Does it matter which way you orient solar panels.

Polycrystalline solar panels pros. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. Fewer rails are required to mount a solar panel vertically instead of horizontally. Recently the new york times and popular science even purported that solar panels should face west rather than south to avoid unintended consequences.

The other important factor is angle. Like monocrystalline polycrystalline boasts a long lifespan and usually comes bundled with a 25 year warranty. This is a simple tried and true way to find the perfect direction and like i said you can do it with no tools. 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.

For example in brisbane if your panels are facing west 270 and are angled 20 from horizontal you will get 89 of the energy compared to the optimum orentation of north and 30. If you re in the u s. On the other hand if you live in the southern hemisphere you can use this same technique. However you would want to face your solar panels in the opposite direction of where your shadows face.

There are a few reasons why most solar panels are installed vertically. This helps determine the best positioning for solar panels. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. If it s standing upright perpendicular to the ground it is at a 90 angle.

The size of solar panels makes them well suited to be installed vertically on most roofs. That is the rule of thumb for the northern hemisphere. However each of the above only considers. It does so by spinning counterclockwise along its axes.

When a solar system is level with the ground it has no tilt. However in some cases it may be better to install them horizontally or at some other angle for other considerations. Polycrystalline panels are somewhat less efficient than monocrystalline panels think 13 16 efficiency rather than 15 20 but not by much and for the slight decrease in efficiency you can save a considerable amount of money. The more sunlight reaches your solar panels the more electricity you can generate and the more money you ll be able to save on your electric bill.

Solar panel angle is another way of describing the vertical tilt of your pv system. As you may have read elsewhere solar panels should face true south. Panels should be tilted at an angle with ground that equals the latitude of the location. In general there s one big rule.

For the southern hemisphere solar panels should face true north.