Which Direction Should Solar Panels Face In The Us

While the angle of your solar panels is important a more important factor in your energy production is going to be the direction your panels face.

Which direction should solar panels face in the us.

These produce the most electircity overall as long as there is no shading from trees buildings or other obstructions. The more sunlight reaches your solar panels the more electricity you can generate and the more money you ll be able to save on your electric bill. If you live in the usa or any other country in the northern hemisphere the best direction to face solar panels is south. The traditional advice is to position solar panels to be south facing.

The idea position for solar panels is north facing. If you use most of your electricity during the morning and like to run your heater when you wake up then east facing solar panels could be the right direction for you. The most optimum direction to face your solar panels is somewhere between south and west. Since most sunlight comes from the south this will make your panels more productive.

They generally produce the most solar energy in the morning hours. It is at this location that your panels will receive the maximum sunlight throughout the day. However each of the above only considers. For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south.

However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. 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. If you re in the u s. The best panel direction to maximise self consumption of solar electricity will depend upon a household s electricity usage patterns.

In general there s one big rule. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. 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. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine.

This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. If your roof does not face the right direction then surface mounted panels or pole mounted panels may be your best bet. This is so that you can expose your solar panels to as much light as possible to optimize their energy production. Recently the new york times and popular science even purported that solar panels should face west rather than south to avoid unintended consequences.