How To Position Solar Panels To The Sun

In order to collect energy more efficiently solar panels should be angled to face as close to the sun as possible.

How to position solar panels to the sun.

This is because for those of us living in the northern hemisphere the sun is always along the southern part of the sky as we complete our yearly orbit around it. Photovoltaics produce power when the angle at which the sun s rays hit the panel surface the angle of incidence is small or when light strikes the panel as close to perpendicular as possible. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.

There s a simple rule of thumb for calculating the best tilt angle for fixed mount solar panels. The benefit in energy gained by optimum sun tracking has to be weighed against its maintenance and the. Build a simple solar pointer and at solar noon you can point your panel t. A sun tracking mechanism can be used to maximize the energy collected from solar collectors.

Updated may 18 2020. The traditional advice is to position solar panels to be south facing. Trackers are structures which hold the solar panels in order to move and or tilt them according to the position of the sun. In the northern hemisphere the general rule for solar panel placement is solar panels should face true south and in the southern true north.

They cannot be mounted on a slanted roof. Subtract 15 degrees from the latitude at your location during summer and add 15 degrees to your latitude during winter. However there is a difference between magnetic south and true south that must be considered. This is the simplest and fastest way to position a solar panel for the best output.

For a precise method use the second formula on this page to calculate tilt angle. Anything more or less than this will reduce efficiency far too much. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. 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.

Variations in the tilt can make a big difference to efficiency though not as marked as with orientation so strive for somewhere between 20 40º.