Southern Pitch For Solar Panels

The table below features a solar panel angle by zip code for at least one city from every state.

Southern pitch for solar panels.

Solar panels generate maximum power when they are positioned perpendicular to the sun so that the suns rays hits the panels on a 90 angle. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. Locating the best direction to point your solar panels can be accomplished very quickly. Your life would be much easier if you could just find out what angle is the optimal solar panel angle in your city or county.

You could use tools if you wanted to but you can just as quickly figure it out with none at all. The rule is that if you live in the southern hemisphere you should point your panels true north and if you live in the northern hemisphere you should point. Most australian homes have a roof pitch of 20 to 30 which is considered optimum for. Fixed or tracking solar panels.

Basically the best solar panel angle for you is the one that either matches your roof pitch because it s cost effective to install an array that way or the one that gets you the most bang for. Through a number of tests conducted by the solar energy society of alberta it was established that the ideal pitch to install solar panels was at latitude so 51 for calgary and 53 for edmonton. However to accurately calculate solar power the rooftop orientation and angle of. This page doesn t discuss tracking panels solar panels should always face true south if you are in the northern hemisphere or true north if you are in the southern hemisphere.

Overall the angle of your rooftop has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction your roof faces. The orientation of the panels and the angle they are tilted will have a greater effect on annual energy production. In australia and the southern hemisphere rooftops that face the north sun perform best and generate the most energy. This particular angle generated the most energy from the test solar panels on a year round basis both with and without snow clearing.

As most roofs are not flat your solar contractor will factor the pitch of your roof into the equation. Orientation of the panels. Panels that track the movement of the sun throughout the day can receive 10 in winter to 40 in summer more energy than fixed panels. Solar panel angle by zip code.

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. Ideally a fixed roof mounted solar energy system should be at an angle that is equal to the latitude of the location where it is installed. There are two types of solar. However pitch angles between 30 and 45 degrees will work well in most situations.