Solar Panels South Facing Roof

You can add an extra panel if you have the room to make up the difference.

Solar panels south facing roof. The flatter a south facing roof is i e. 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. 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. The results backed us up on this theory showing poor solar radiation levels for south facing roofs at this steep tilt.

The closer to horizontal the better it will be for solar. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. For the northern hemisphere south facing roofs will give you the best results from solar panels. Solar south or geographic south.

Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. A littlle east or west causes no problems. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year.

True south can also be calculated at noon when shadows from vertical objects run north south. Why orientation matters with rooftop solar. If your panels face due east or west you will loose about 9 over what the south facing panels would provide. To correct the compass reading your solar installer will calculate the magnetic declination of your site.

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.