Solar Panels South Facing Roof

On a south facing roof the panels produce energy when the sun is high in the sky but as the evening sets in that production decreases.

Solar panels south facing roof.

Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. Solar south or geographic south. 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 the panels face west instead they get more energy during the afternoon an evening.

However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. To correct the compass reading your solar installer will calculate the magnetic declination of your site. The closer to horizontal the better it will be for solar. 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. Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year. The direction solar panels should face is true south a k a.

Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. The flatter a south facing roof is i e. 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. You can add an extra panel if you have the room to make up the difference.

For the northern hemisphere south facing roofs will give you the best results from solar panels.