A south south east or south west facing roof is ideal for homes in the uk.
Solar panels on east facing roof uk.
In contrast a north southern hemisphere facing roof gets sunshine from dawn to dusk.
If your roof faces another direction as you can likely still see plenty of benefit from installing a solar array.
If you look back to systems that were built a few years ago you would typically find them facing south says david wedepohl director of communications and markets at the german solar industry association bsw.
A single east west panel produces slightly less electricity than single south facing one twice as many panels can be packed in the same space as britain s use of solar power increases this.
At higher pitches the difference increases.
Panels on a south facing roof even laid flat will almost invariably produce more electricity that east facing panels.
There is only about a 5 percent loss in power output of solar if the panel are facing south east or south west compared to facing directly south.
In winter when the sun is at an angle less than the pitch of the roof the panels will receive no sunlight.
Solar arrays that are situated east west can squeeze in more rows and panels and therefore a greater generation capacity than their south or north facing cousins.
You could install all your panels on the east roof and take as much sun as you can in the mornings.
At lower pitches say 30 the east west facing panels perform slightly closer to south.
An example of a south west facing roof.
Modern panels are able to perform better at less optimal angles and perform better in the type diffuse light we get in the uk.
With east or west facing panels the sun will be behind the roof for half the day.
We assumed a 40 elevation for the roof.
East and west facing roofs are also suitable for solar panels and will still see a good deal of energy generation throughout the course of the day.
That s much better than most people would guess and even an east west facing roof can generate around 80 of the maximum.
Just make sure there s no obstructions that would cause shade on the panels and you re golden.
Cleve hill solar park.
However this doesn t mean that east or west facing roofs can t also be suitable for solar panels.
They would all then be in the shade during the second half of the day.
Is my roof suitable for pv solar panels.
For example an east facing roof will be exposed to sunlight in the morning whereas a west facing roof will take in more sunlight.
