The diagram shows how the sun passes over a house with solar panels on the south and west facing roof surfaces.
Why are solar panels normally fitted to south facing roofs.
Size along with orientation the size of your roof will determine how many solar panels you can install.
Let s walk you through an average day august 6th to be exact.
The average us home solar system size is 5 kilowatts or 20 250 watt panels.
Even with this decrease in performance solar panels will produce enough electricity to save you hundreds of dollars a year.
In sydney south facing solar panels will typically produce around 28 less energy than north facing panels and the steeper the roof the less electricity they will produce.
Panels mounted on a standard pitch roof facing east or west will produce approximately 15 less output than panels mounted on a south facing roof of a standard pitch.
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.
If you live in a tropical area your solar panels will be to the north or to the south of the sun depending on the season.
This not only benefits you as the solar system owner but there are trickle down effects for the entire grid as well.
Solar arrays that are situated east west can squeeze in more rows and panels and therefore a greater generation capacity than their south or north facing cousins.
Cleve hill solar park.
Not discussed here is the case for going solar in the tropics e g.
When the sun shines onto the surface at an angle the panel will still generate electricity but it will be less effective.
Options for properties with north facing roofs.
But in the far north the difference is not so great and in townsville south facing solar panels will only produce around 17 less electricity in total than north facing ones.
North facing panels on the other hand generally produce much less energy than south facing panels and usually present challenges for homeowners looking to go solar as panels installed on these roofs will not produce enough to make financial sense.
Why orientation matters with rooftop solar.
However the economics of installing solar panels on a roof that does not face the south still usually stack up for the homeowner.
With solar panels requiring about 15 square feet each you need about 300 square feet of south or west facing roof space to fit 20 panels on your roof.
Darwin and far north queensland.
In the uk south facing panels will generate more than other orientations.
The sun rises at 5 52 am and begins directly shining on the south facing panels at 8 15.
