Solar Panels South Facing Roof

The direction solar panels should face is true south a k a.

Solar panels south facing roof.

True south can also be calculated at noon when shadows from vertical objects run north south. The flatter a south facing roof is i e. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.

To correct the compass reading your solar installer will calculate the magnetic declination of your site. We also took at look at a tilt angle of 40 for the south facing orientations mainly just to show that a south facing roof with a steep pitch is probably not a good place for solar panels. A littlle east or west causes no problems. You can add an extra panel if you have the room to make up the difference.

The closer to horizontal the better it will be for solar. Solar south or geographic south. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year. Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch.

If your panels face due east or west you will loose about 9 over what the south facing panels would provide. Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. 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. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation.

The results backed us up on this theory showing poor solar radiation levels for south facing roofs at this steep tilt.