Why Should Solar Panels Face North

The direction solar panels should ideally face for optimum sun exposure varies depending on location.

Why should solar panels face north. 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. Installing panels that face north is not recommended since it results in the lowest electricity output. They also produce less electricity in the morning but more in the afternoon. You might be thinking that the direction your panels should face is obvious and should simply be towards the direction where they will be exposed to sunlight for the most amount of the day but the answer is not that simple.

Solar panels will generate the most energy over the course of a year when they are facing north. However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. You should still go solar is what. Australia being in the southern hemisphere experiences a sun that is predominantly coming at us from the north.

This is especially important in winter when the sun is lower in the northern sky. It s considered common knowledge that you want to point your solar modules south toward the equator assuming you are in the northern hemisphere. For australia solar power yields are higher when panels face north. Panels facing west produce around 12 less electricity overall than north facing solar panels.

If you re in australia or elsewhere in the southern hemisphere your solar panels should face north. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. This maximizes the energy production over the course of the year through both summer and winter. There is of course deviance throughout the seasons but ideally solar panels should be facing as close to true north as possible to reduce the impact that the winter seasons have on energy yields.

Because north facing solar panels produce the most electricity overall they will have the greatest environmental benefit. Sometimes however the homeowner will want to add modules on the north facing roof. The effect of orientation on solar output. But in general there s one big rule.

Once again referring to the graph above one can see that even northeasterly and northwesterly facing panels will be largely operating at around the 90 of their rated outputs. The only roof face you would never install solar panels on is the north face assuming you re living in the northern hemisphere. Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. In this post we will explore this question further so you can go into your solar project with as much knowledge as possible.

The direction that your solar panels face is fundamental to how much energy they can produce and how much money you can save over time. While south facing roofs are ideal for maximizing the electricity production for the individual panels it s not the end of the world if your home has and east west orientation. Since the sun rises in the east solar panels facing in that direction are more productive in the morning.