Which Direction Should My House Face For Solar Panels

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.

Which direction should my house face for solar panels.

The earth has a fluid outer core made of iron and nickel which pulls the needle of your compass slightly away from true south. It is at this location that your panels will receive the maximum sunlight throughout the day. The most optimum direction to face your solar panels is somewhere between south and west. We can install panels on south east or west facing roofs.

This table shows you how much energy you can expect to get from almost any combination of solar panel direction and angle in the capital cities compared to the optimum orientation. The direction solar panels should face is true south a k a. Joshua rhodes a postdoctoral research fellow in the webber energy group and the energy institute at the university. The pull or magnetic declination will vary in direction and strength depending on your location.

As you might have guessed the direction your panels face can be a major factor in how much energy your rooftop solar system produces. If your roof does not face the right direction then surface mounted panels or pole mounted panels may be your best bet. 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. Net energy metering and time of use.

Orientation of the panels. 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. The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle. If your roof faces east west rather than north south you have a few options.

For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. So what direction should solar panels face. Solar south or geographic south. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity.

Solar panels facing east or west won t get as much light as those on a northern facing roof. The short answer is no. North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on. Does my house have to face south for solar to work.

The following is a guest post by dr. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere.