Do Solar Panels Need To Face The Sun

It is at this location that your panels will receive the maximum sunlight throughout the day.

Do solar panels need to face the sun. The most optimum direction to face your solar panels is somewhere between south and west. Ensuring that solar panels face the correct direction and have an appropriate tilt will help ensure that they produce maximum energy as they are exposed to the highest intensity of sunlight for the greatest period of time. A solar panel will harness the most power when the sun s rays hit its surface perpendicularly. In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations.

However each of the above only considers. Solar panels perform at their best when the sun is shining straight on to the panels. Monocrystalline panels are better than polycrystalline but are more expensive. Solar panels produce electricity from the photons present in natural daylight rather than from the sunlight itself so panels don t actually need to be installed in direct sunlight to work.

It just depends on where you live. 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. Face panels south for non tou ratepayers 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. Recently the new york times and popular science even purported that solar panels should face west rather than south to avoid unintended consequences.

Calculating the ideal angle for your solar panels is not that difficult. When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective. As a general rule of thumb keep in mind that the panels need to be more vertical during winter to face the lower sun directly and more tilted towards the ground during summer to face the higher sun. If your roof does not face the right direction then surface mounted panels or pole mounted panels may be your best bet.

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