Do Solar Panels Need To Face North

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

Do solar panels need to face north.

Net energy metering and time of use. The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle to work. When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.

The flatter the roof the less solar energy production falls when panels face east or west rather than south. 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. Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels. However because of the reduction in the total amount of electricity generated compared to north facing panels the increase in self consumption that will result will need to be considerable to make west facing solar panels worthwhile.

Over the last few years we have created the first online solar production calculator that works out the exact solar production that you will get for your home based on the direction and. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity. Or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere the best direction for solar panels to face is true south though there is an exception. 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.

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. If you re in the u s. Do you have to have a south facing roof to have solar panels. 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.

Solar panels that face north west will produce around 5 less electricity overall than. 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. West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think. 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 panels would.

The steeper it is the more it is an issue. We are looking at installing a 5kw system lg neon 2 panels and fornius inverter on a double storey house and had initially thought of splitting the panels between our north east and west facing roofs so that we got production over most of the day 8 panels north 4 east and 4 west. In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations. Panels will even produce some electricity on cloudy days when you don t see an ounce of sunshine.

In general there s one big rule.