Solar Panels South West Facing Roof

Why orientation matters with rooftop solar.

Solar panels south west facing roof.

Your solar panel orientation is very important when it comes to maximising the amount of electricity that your solar panels will produce. The sun rises at 5 52 am and begins directly shining on the south facing panels at 8 15. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year. I would be grateful for any thoughts suggestions on the direction to face solar panels.

At lower pitches say 30 the east west facing panels perform slightly closer to south. At higher pitches the difference increases. 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. For years homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south.

What happens if your roof isn t facing south. An example of a south west facing roof. Let s walk you through an average day august 6th to be exact. Here s a quick example of a south west facing roof in london.

As we re in the northern hemisphere the best solar panel orientation is obviously south but. That captures the most solar energy over the course of the day which benefits the homeowner but. We assumed a 40 elevation for the roof.