Perfect Angle For Solar Panels

The optimum angle varies throughout the year depending on the seasons and your location and this calculator shows the difference in sun height on a month by month basis.

Perfect angle for solar panels.

The next question is at what angle from horizontal should the panels be tilted. To get the best out of your photovoltaic panels you need to angle them towards the sun. One peak sun hour 1000 w m 2 of sunlight. You then express that in terms of the equivalent number of hours with 1000 w m 2.

Overall the angle of your rooftop has less impact on solar panel performance than the direction your roof faces. On the contrary in the countries of the southern hemisphere such as south africa and australia the best orientation is true north. It turns out that you can do better than this about 4 better. The summer optimum tilt angle on the other hand will be 34 15 19.

Books and articles on solar energy often give the advice that the tilt should be equal to your latitude plus 15 degrees in winter or minus 15 degrees in summer. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. However when calculating the total amount of peak sun hours received at any location you don t just consider hours with 1000 w m 2 of solar radiation. At different times of the year the optimal angle may be slightly or even significantly different.

Find the best angle for optimizing solar collection during winter when solar energy is most scarce by multiplying your latitude by 0 89 and then adding 24 degrees. For instance if your latitude. However pitch angles between 30 and 45 degrees will work well in most situations. Photovoltaics produce power when the angle at which the sun s rays hit the panel surface the angle of incidence is small or when light strikes the panel as close to perpendicular as possible.

For starters there is no single ideal angle for solar panels. However if you live in an urban area in the united states you might just be able to find the best angle for the photovoltaic panels with your zip code. In order to collect energy more efficiently solar panels should be angled to face as close to the sun as possible. Instead you need to add the total amount of solar irradiance received by the location.