Solar Panels On East Facing Roof Uk

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.

Solar panels on east facing roof uk.

We assumed a 40 elevation for the roof. That goes double if you get any fog or mist in the morning which will reduce the efficiency of the east facing panels. Panels on a south facing roof even laid flat will almost invariably produce more electricity that east facing panels. A south south east or south west facing roof is ideal for homes in the uk.

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 lower pitches say 30 the east west facing panels perform slightly closer to south. You could install all your panels on the east roof and take as much sun as you can in the mornings. In winter when the sun is at an angle less than the pitch of the roof the panels will receive no sunlight.

With east or west facing panels the sun will be behind the roof for half 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. 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 contrast a north southern hemisphere facing roof gets sunshine from dawn to dusk.

Of course you cannot install east west facing solar panels on your roof if it does not already slant in those directions. Just make sure there s no obstructions that would cause shade on the panels and you re golden. At higher pitches the difference increases. Modern panels are able to perform better at less optimal angles and perform better in the type diffuse light we get in the uk.

Cleve hill solar park. For example an east facing roof will be exposed to sunlight in the morning whereas a west facing roof will take in more sunlight. If your roof faces another direction as you can likely still see plenty of benefit from installing a solar array. 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.

They would all then be in the shade during the second half of the day. However this doesn t mean that east or west facing roofs can t also be suitable for solar panels. Is my roof suitable for pv solar panels.