Do Solar Panels Have To Face South

Go west young one.

Do solar panels have to face south.

See image below for illustration. This is so that you can expose your solar panels to as much light as possible to optimize their energy production. North is the only direction that we don t want to put panels on. In the southern hemisphere facing the north is ideal.

Many people ask the question why do solar panels face south a fundamental fact many people are aware of is that the sun rises in the east and sets toward the west. In the northern hemisphere the best direction to face solar panels is south since that is generally where they receive the most sunlight. Solar panels convert light into dc electricity. 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.

However solar panels can be orientated on any roof that faces south of either east or west. The sun doesn t have to be beaming directly on the panels at the perfect angle to work. Therefore directions like southwest or southeast are fine. But what if you don t have a suitable south facing roof.

In any pv system related project we tend to set up solar panels to face the solar south rather than the magnetic south. Does my house have to face south for solar to work. On a flat roof if the orientation of the building is not strictly n s then you have the option of making panels face south. This is a good action if you have enough space on the rooftop.

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. We can install panels on south east or west facing roofs. This fact was further emphasized by the 1991 disney film beauty and the beast when céline dion and peabo bryson sang the lines certain as the sun rising in the east. Well when it comes to solar panels west is second best.

Solar panels should face south for any home in america to obtain maximum power generation. North now that s a problem. Plenty of systems get installed on western systems and eastern and south eastern etc. The short answer is no.

West facing solar panels get less sun than those that face south but it s not as little as you may think. Your roof does not have to face exactly south true or not. 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.