Going solar is an increasingly popular option for homeowners and businesses alike due in large part to its efficiency. A major consideration when going solar is therefore doing everything you can to optimize your power output, as well as your savings. Utilizing your energy according to the new NEM 3.0 is a crucial part of this, maximizing your energy to save money. While being smart and efficient about your power consumption goes a long way toward improving your energy efficiency, there’s another part of the equation that is often overlooked: your panels’ angles and orientation.
The angle and orientation of your solar panels is a very important part of getting the most out of your solar system. Determining the best location, angle, and orientation for your panels when they are being installed will help ensure maximum efficiency.
Of course, there are many factors that affect how much sunlight your panels can absorb – for one, the sun isn’t exactly stationary, and its position in the sky varies not only over the course of a day, but throughout the entire year. Other factors, like your location and the shading and the angle of your roof, will also affect how much sunlight your panels will absorb. How you position your panels when you install them is therefore an important step in optimizing your solar power.
Most of the time, the angle of your panels will simply be determined by the angle and pitch of the home’s roof. Panels will be installed flush with the roof, likely facing south to get the most exposure to the sun. However, in some instances, it may make sense to tilt the panels to change their angle and increase the amount of energy they produce.
The angle and orientation of your panels will affect how much energy they can generate. This means there are optimal angles and orientations to maximize their efficiency. When it comes to orientation, you’ll want your solar panels facing south if you live in the northern hemisphere, and facing north if you live in the southern hemisphere. This idea is simple, as the sun will be in the southern half of the sky when you live in the northern hemisphere.
There is also a growing movement of having panels face west. While the sun is not in the western part of the sky the entire day, it is there during the times of day when electricity is in highest demand. While you may not get the same amount of power generated over the course of the day with western-facing panels, you will get more during peak hours when they are needed. Whether you choose to install western-facing or southern-facing panels will likely depend on many factors, such as the orientation and size of your roof.
The correct angle for your solar panels is a bit more complicated. Ideally, panels would be angled so that they are perpendicular to the sunlight hitting it. Direct sunlight results in the highest levels of production. The angle that sunlight will hit your panels varies not only over the course of a day, but over the course of the year. What season it is, as well as where you live relative to the equator, will dictate the best angle for your solar panels.
While you may not change the tilt of your panels with the seasons, you may want to install them at an angle that is optimal for the entire year based on your location. In general, you’d want to find out the latitude of where you live and angle your panels at the same angle. For example, in Los Angeles, the latitude is about 34 degrees. This means you’d want to angle your panels at about 34 degrees. This calculator helps to determine the exact angle based on your location.
In most cases, your panels will be installed flush with your roof and will therefore be angled at whatever angle your roof is. If panels are facing south, this will be good enough to produce energy efficiently. The cost and work involved in installing racks to angle your panels more precisely is often not worth the small increase in efficiency this produces.
However, in some cases, the positioning and angling of a home and its roof may make it necessary to install panels at an angle. For example, if a roof is only angled entirely to the north, you’d likely want to install reverse tilt solar panels, where racking is used to make the panels face south on a north-facing roof.
Solar Discovery has done specialized projects that involved installing reverse tilt solar systems to maximize system efficiency. In one specific case, we had a customer who was located in the Glassell Park neighborhood. Their roof had a lot of shading, especially on the southern-facing portion of the roof. We had to get creative to find a solution that would make the installation of a solar system worth it. We decided to build out mounting structures to tilt panels toward the south to maximize the system’s exposure to sunlight.
Solar Discovery specializes in solar, roofing, batteries, and a range of other services and maintenance for solar systems. Whether you need a standard installation or something a bit more complex along the lines of a reverse-tilt setup, we’re here to help you get the most out of your solar energy journey. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we can help you with all of your clean energy needs.