Do My Solar Panels Have To Face South
See image below for illustration.
Do my solar panels have to face south. What you are doing is optimizing your energy production for maximum savings with your utility company. In the northern hemisphere the sun crosses the sky a little to the south which means putting solar panels on a south facing roof is the best way for homeowners to capture the most solar energy. Since most sunlight comes from the south this will make your panels more productive. This is a good action if you have enough space on the rooftop.
However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. Plenty of systems get installed on western systems and eastern and south eastern etc. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. Because if panels are not in the same direction as the orientation of the building then they will take up more space on the roof.
However if the local power company charges higher prices in the afternoon your panels should face west to maximize the dollar savings. Face panels south for non tou ratepayers. This is so that you can expose your solar panels to as much light as possible to optimize their energy production. North now that s a problem.
But what if you don t have a suitable south facing roof. Go west young one. For those who are not part of a tou model with their utility company the direction that you want to face your solar panels is south. Your roof does not have to face exactly south true or not.
Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. If you live in the usa or any other country in the northern hemisphere the best direction to face solar panels is south. Well when it comes to solar panels west is second best.