Why Are Solar Panels Tilted

Ground mounted solar racking with adjustable tilt.

Why are solar panels tilted.

Why solar panels need a tilt angle. The vertical tilt of the solar panel is termed as a tilt angle. Here two simple methods for calculating approximate solar panel angle according to your latitude. The goal is to have it exactly perpendicular to the incoming rays of the sun.

As a rule of thumb solar panels should be more vertical during winter to gain most of the low winter sun and more tilted during summer to maximize the output. The sun moves throughout the day and its position angle also changes with the seasons. The reason behind that is pretty simple. However even if you lower the tilt of your roof all the way down to 5 production only decreases by about 10 percent.

The violet line is the solar energy per day if the panel is fixed at the winter angle discussed below these figures are calculated for 40 latitude. This is because a tilted solar panel will cast a shadow and a more steeply tilted panel will cast a longer shadow. Solar panels on a flat roof. They need maximum exposure to the sun.

The angle of your roof actually has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction your solar energy system faces. A flat roof on a house often may not have enough square footage to accommodate the larger separation required by steeply tilted panels so you may need to accept a suboptimal tilt. First of all in the choice of the tilt angle for solar panels on a house roof we are bound to satisfy two basic needs. If your solar panels will have a fixed tilt angle and you want to get the most energy over the whole year then this section is for you.

Because the steep angle of your roof might already be higher than the optimal angle for production the best you can do is lie your panels flat against the roof. Calculating the optimal solar panel angle. Installing your solar panels at the ideal tilt angle and orientation for your latitude ensures that your system generates as much electricity as possible for your location. The need for energy production and the need for an aesthetically pleasing and long lasting final result the roof of a house already has its own inclination and slope so a.

If you are trying to install solar panels on a steep roof it may not be possible to place panels at the optimal tilt with traditional racking systems. Many sites suggests that the tilt aids in self cleaning also another site stated that tilt depends on factor like latitude. To tilt or not to tilt. Well now that we know that the optimal direction is south we need to find the optimal tilt angle.