I ve arbitrarily picked a location of 49 degrees north generally the united states canadian border in the western u s and a south facing roof for this example.
Roof is facing south west is it ok for solar.
I would be grateful for any thoughts suggestions on the direction to face solar panels.
Solar panels on an east or west facing roof will still get enough sunshine to make going solar worthwhile.
For years homeowners who bought solar panels were advised to mount them on the roof facing south.
One of our trained assessors will be pleased to advise you on the viability of your property.
Is east or west better.
When you consume most of your electricity the effect of shading and whether or not your system has battery storage.
Why orientation matters with rooftop solar in general solar panels that are oriented directly east or directly west will produce about 20 percent less electricity than if they were facing south.
Why more solar panels should be facing west not south.
The smaller the roof pitch the better for south east or west facing buildings.
We are looking at installing a 5kw system lg neon 2 panels and fornius inverter on a double storey house and had initially thought of splitting the panels between our north east and west facing roofs so that we got production over most of the day 8 panels north 4 east and 4 west.
A west facing roof producing 50 more electricity during peak times can actually save you more money than a system of the same size facing south.
Shading and available roof area are currently much more likely to dramatically reduce your potential returns than roof orientation.
As you can see a solar photovoltaic system may still be viable on an east or west facing roof.
So for this roof the optimum angle is 35 a bit over an 8 12 roof slope and at this angle the roof generates 1 265kwh m2 day.
While south facing pv systems produce more power overall than west facing pv systems from a utility standpoint the impact of the losses in overall pv production of west facing systems are likely to be more than offset by the value of the reduction in the peak load.
Consider your roof other factors.
If you can take advantage of tou billing and you have a suitable south or west facing roof you should investigate your solar potential and find a local solar installer near you.
These factors all come back to the question of solar panel direction because a west facing array can produce up to 50 more energy than a south facing one during peak hours between about 2 00pm and 8 00pm.
You also can mount solar panels on roofs that face east or west on the roof of another building like a barn or garage or on the ground.