Choosing the right direction for solar panels is key to getting the most out of them and increasing your return on investment. Proper placement can boost energy output by up to 30% or more. However, the slope of your roof and your location near the equator might lead you to consider other directions to better capture sunlight.
Understanding how to position solar panels correctly is crucial for both home and business use. It’s important to consider several factors that affect their efficiency, such as your roof’s angle and any obstacles like tall trees or nearby buildings. This guide will help you determine the best placement for your solar panels.
Why Is The Solar Panels Placement Important?
The placement of solar panels is crucial because it greatly affects their efficiency in producing energy. Solar panels need to face directly towards the sun to work best. This direct sunlight lets the photovoltaic (PV) cells in the panels, which are made of special materials, absorb the most light possible.
These cells are designed to absorb specific light wavelengths, so if they’re not aligned perfectly with the sun, they might reflect light instead of absorbing it. Even a small misalignment can reduce the panel’s effectiveness. Properly positioning solar panels maximizes the energy they capture and increases the return on your investment in solar technology.
What Direction Should Solar Panels Face?
If you live in North America, the optimal direction for solar panels is south-facing. This orientation capitalizes on the maximum sunlight exposure throughout the day, as the sun is primarily to the south of most locations. South-facing panels ensure the most efficient energy production, helping to maximize electricity generation for household use, battery charging, and benefiting from net metering where available.
In South America, where countries are predominantly south of the equator, the best direction for solar panels is north-facing. This orientation allows panels to capture the most sunlight, as the sun in these regions is mostly to the north.
For other key regions, the ideal orientation varies:
- United Kingdom: Like in North America, the optimal direction is south-facing, especially in the northern parts of the UK, to capture the maximum sunlight throughout the day. East or west-facing setups are also viable, providing good energy production for most of the day, though less than south-facing orientations.
- Australia: In Australia, which is also south of the equator, north-facing panels are ideal to maximize sunlight capture and energy production.
- India: Similar to the UK, south-facing panels are preferable to maximize solar energy capture given its position north of the equator.
In each case, the direction solar panels should face is primarily determined by the hemisphere in which a home is located. Proper orientation is crucial for maximizing the efficiency of the panels and achieving the best return on investment in solar technology.
Best Direction For Solar Panels
Most commonly, solar panels perform best when facing south, as this orientation typically allows for the maximum exposure to sunlight throughout the day. We will help you in finding the optimal positioning for your solar panels, offering solutions for situations where south-facing placement is not feasible.
Choosing the best direction for your solar panels depends on various factors, including geographical location, energy needs, and pricing plans. Let’s break down the benefits and drawbacks of each direction:
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South Facing Solar Panels:
- Benefits: In the United States, south-facing panels receive the most sunlight throughout the day, maximizing energy absorption and efficiency. Ideal for generating sufficient energy to power homes and potentially earn credits through net metering programs.
- Disadvantages: Limited to regions where south-facing installation is feasible.
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West Facing Solar Panels:
- Benefits: While west-facing panels are less efficient than south-facing ones, they produce more energy during peak usage hours, aligning well with Time-of-Use pricing plans. Suitable for areas with TOU pricing plans, such as California, Arizona, and Maryland.
- Disadvantages: Overall lower energy production compared to south-facing panels.
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East Facing Solar Panels:
- Benefits: East-facing panels also generate less energy than south-facing ones but can be an option if south-facing roofs are unavailable. Can still contribute to energy generation, particularly in the morning hours.
- Disadvantages: Lower energy output compared to south-facing or west-facing panels.
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North Facing Solar Panels:
- Benefits: While north-facing panels are the least ideal in terms of energy production, they might be the only option in certain regions. In specific locations like Hawaii and Puerto Rico, where the sun’s path varies throughout the year, north-facing panels might be viable during certain seasons.
- Disadvantages: Significantly lower energy output compared to panels facing other directions, making them less efficient overall.
Which Angle Is Best For Solar Panels?
While the direction of your solar panels tells you about the orientation of your solar panels respective to the sun, the angle of your solar panel tells you about its tilt or the angle between the ground and the solar panel. To ensure that your solar panels have the right angle for optimum power production, you should go with an angle the same as your geographical latitude.
In case your latitude is 40 degrees, then your solar panels should also be installed at 40 degrees to the ground. This means that if you are near the pole, then your solar panels will have a higher tilt towards the equator. And if you are near the equator, your solar panels will be almost flat and laying down on the roof. If it snows quite a lot in your area, then you will need to have a slightly higher tilt to prevent snow accumulation on your solar panels to ensure that the sunlight is not blocked.
Overall Best Direction for Solar Panels
Now that you know more about the factors affecting the power output and efficiency of your solar panels, you might want to know about the overall best direction for solar panels. Unfortunately, finding the same is not that simple or straight forward. This is due to the reason that the direction of your solar panels will differ depending on the desired application and given scenario. Because of this, we are here with the following optimum directions for solar panels according to your desired usage and applications:
1. Direction for Maximising Output
If you do not want to consider anything else but want the most power output from your solar panels, then you may want to know about the direction for maximising output. For the same, if you are living in the northern hemisphere, then you should go in the south direction. In most cases, by pointing your solar panels towards the south direction will result in maximum sunlight all around the year.
2. Direction for Net Metering
There might be many cases where your locality and area might have the option for full retail 1:1 net metering. Because you have both grid power and solar panel power available, you would want your solar panels to be as efficient as possible even if the total power output produced throughout the day is lower.
For this, you should point your solar panels towards the south direction. Since the south direction results in high power output during midday where most homes have lower power output, you can export the extra produced power resulting in lower power bills.
3. Direction for Battery Systems
Similar to net metering, you would want your solar panels to produce extra power during the day if you are using battery systems. This is to ensure that your solar panels are not only powering up your appliances but also charging the battery system at the same. Due to this, if you are using a battery system, then you should install your solar panels in the south direction. This direction is perfect if you want to go completely off grid since your batteries will be fully charged on a daily basis.
4. Direction for Time of Use Billing
While it is not very common, some areas might have TOU or Time of Use billing. Such areas essentially charge more for grid power for specific times which is generally the evening hours when most people end up using more electricity and power. To overcome this increased power cost, you would want your solar panels to offer a higher power output during late hours and the evening. As a result, installing your solar panels in the southwest direction in case of Time of Use billing is highly recommended.
Solar System Direction and Output Impact
By this point, it must be pretty clear that using your solar panels while having a south direction is the most optimal in most cases. However, this might not be possible for everyone and you might be looking to install your solar panels facing a different direction. Since this reduces the efficiency of your solar panels, it will also impact the overall output. As for the exact power output impact you can expect, it depends on the direction that you are using as given here:
| Direction | Expected Power Output Loss |
| Southwest/Southeast | 8% |
| East/West | 15% |
| North | 30% |
In case you are wondering about such drastic impacts on the power output of your solar panels due to direction change, it is primarily due to the following factors:
1. Direction from South
As you turn your solar panels more and more away from the south direction, the power output of your solar panels will reduce even further. Because of this, while southwest and southeast directions have a very minimal power output loss, turning your solar panels to the north which is the completely opposite side results in a much higher power output loss.
2. Latitude
Your geographical latitude also determines the amount by which the power output of your solar panels will be affected as per the direction you are using. In most cases, solar panels installed closer to the pole will have a bigger impact on their power output than the solar panels which are installed closer to the equator.
3. Roof Pitch
The angle of your roof or its tilt will also determine the amount by which the power output is affected depending on the direction that you are using. In general, a lower roof pitch or tilt has a lower effect on the power output loss. Any roof which has a steep tilt will affect the power output of your solar panels even if they are slightly away from the south direction.
What if the Roof is not Facing the South Direction?
As stated earlier, the south direction is the best direction to choose if you want to have the highest power output from your solar panels. Unfortunately, not everyone has a south facing roof for their homes and offices. In such a case, you might be looking for other ways to install your solar panels facing south. For the same, you can consider the following options if you want the best output from your solar panels:
1. Install Additional Solar Panels
If your solar panels are not working at their optimum efficiency levels, then their total power output will be lower than what you want. To compensate for this, you can consider installing additional solar panels to get the same total effective power output from your solar panels. This can be a great option if you have the budget and space for installing additional solar panels on the roof of your home or office.
2. Install Solar Panels on the Ground
Those of you who have a large backyard or front yard can also consider installing solar panels on the ground. Not only is it cheaper to install solar panels on the ground than on the roof, but they also allow for easier maintenance since you can easily access your solar panels. And since you are installing solar panels on the ground, you can make them face any direction you prefer.
3. Install Solar Panel Trackers
In case budget is not an issue for you, then you can consider getting solar panel trackers. These are special mounting options for solar panels which essentially turn your solar panels into automated ones. Such solar panels trackers make your solar panels face the sun perfectly at all times which results in optimum power output and efficiency even if your roof is not facing the south direction.
Calculating Solar Panel Output as per the Direction
Whether you are installing your solar panels facing the south direction or not, you would still want to check their total power output before installing them or buying a set of solar panels. Since planning the direction and orientation of your solar panels is highly important, there are many calculators available out there. One such great option is the SolarReviewers calculator. It helps you in finding the exact power output of your solar panels based on the direction, angle, orientation, and much more.
Conclusion
Since we have covered almost every detail regarding solar panel direction up above, you must be able to easily pick the best direction for solar panels by going through this guide. All of these different factors affect the efficiency of your solar panels in a different way. In fact, we have also covered the optimum direction for your solar panels for different scenarios and applications.
By going through these, you can easily install your solar panels in the right direction for getting optimum efficiency and power out of them. If you have gone through all the information regarding the best direction for solar panels given above, make sure to share your thoughts in the comments section. You can also post any questions down there if you have any!
