Optimal Orientation For Annual Collection Solar Panel

If you are using a compass to orient your panels you need to correct for the difference which varies from place to place.

Optimal orientation for annual collection solar panel.

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. Essentially the closer a solar panel is located to the equator the more the panel should be pointing straight up. A general rule for optimal annual energy production is to set the solar panel tilt angle equal to the geographical latitude. Here pvwatts is used to estimate annually averaged solar output in all countries of the world assuming tilted panels.

Orientation of the 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. An additional 3 5 though can be gained by evaluating this more carefully. Annual optimal orientation of fixed tilt solar collectors when mounting a fixed tilt solar collector it is critical to understand the optimal orientation of the solar collector.

A solar panel tilt of 19 degrees will work best in los angeles. 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. The optimum tilt angle is calculated by adding 15 degrees to your latitude during winter and subtracting 15 degrees from your latitude during summer. The table below features a solar panel angle by zip code for at least one city from every state.

For the best results solar panels should be oriented towards the south. This is because the sun is always in the southern half of the sky in the northern hemisphere. For instance if your latitude is 34 the optimum tilt angle for your solar panels during winter will be 34 15 49. The optimal tilt angle in each location is found by calculating panel output with different tilt angles until the tilt angle giving the maximum output is found.

Since you can t export your surplus solar electricity for a feed in tariff it makes sense to optimise the tilt to match your consumption. For example if the location of the solar array is at 50 o latitude the optimal tilt angle is also 50 o. Tilting panels at say 40 degrees will give a much more consistent solar output through the year than tilting at the angle of optimal annual output which is 24 degrees. Choose a location to view a sensitivity plot displaying incident solar radiation vs collector orientation.

Changing the direction of your solar panels in california throughout the year. That tilt angle is the optimal tilt angle. Solar panel angle by zip code. Once again this is if you do not have any auto adjusting or pivoting solar panels which change their angle throughout the year or during the day.

True north is not the same as magnetic north.